Coronavirus Crisis, Symptoms, Precautions, and a realistic, objective middle ground. Section 1

This is a developing story and I will post updates on this as the Covid-19 situation develops.

I am writing this post from the Nairobi airport on the way home (Pretoria in South Africa). (7 March 2020) Two days ago the first Coronavirus case was confirmed in my home country. I am a lay person when it comes to medicine, diseases and the economy, but my experience in business, engineering and recently in Christian Missions gave me some relevant insights.

It is a time to be objective, calm and realistic. I am traveling much in Africa and is aware of the risks. Until now malaria was certainly one of the greater risks of traveling to remote areas in Africa.

The coronavirus, COVID-19, has already earned its place in history. As of today, 7 March 2020, there are more than 100,000 people infected and more than 3000 have died. ref 1) The stock markets have reacted and people ran to cash reserves like gold.

Source: Local governments/World Health Organization 

Last update: March 6, 2020  Ref 3)

Precautions ref 4)

Wash your hands frequently
Maintain social distancing
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
Practice respiratory hygiene

Symptoms ref 6) and ref 7)

The symptoms of COVID-19 are:

▪️ a cough ▪️ a fever ▪️ shortness of breath

For the latest knowledge on this, please visit the references below. Perhaps ref 7)

But these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness. The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu.

It's very unlikely to be COVID-19 if:

▪️you have not been in close contact with someone with confirmed COVID-19▪️you have not been to a country or area with a high risk of COVID-19 such as China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and others.

How to be ready

We do not know the future. There are many expecting the worst and there are those that live in denial. Many are living in fear as they may lose their jobs, businesses, friends, family and even their on lives. We need to avoid being influenced by fake news and deliberate messages to spread fear, promote unrest and undermine the authorities' measures to curb the spread of the virus.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I know that God is in control and He knows the future. We are to be ready. We are to be ready for Jesus' return. He may call us in many ways for example with diseases, with accidents or when He returns to take those that believe in Him.

Conclusion

The coronavirus is real and has to be taken seriously without going to extremes. We are to be ready, taking precautions and help to remain calm and inspire others to do the same. Let us pray for our leaders and medical personnel in this critical time.

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References:

1) Coronavirus: Italy reports biggest daily jump in death toll, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51777049 BBC 2020-03-07

2) Coronavirus Death Toll 3,497 deaths, www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/ 2020-03-7 10h26 CAT

3) Coronavirus cases top 100,000 as China economy hit: Live updates , www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-surpass-100000-globally-live-updates-200306231605898.html 2020-03-07 10h35 CAT

4) Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public, www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public, World Health Organization 2020-03-07 10h43 CAT

5) Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), www.gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6, JHU 2020-03-12 13h43 CAT

6) South African Department of Health's Coranvirus - COVID-19 site www.sacoronavirus.co.za

7) Join the SA Dept of Health's COVID-19 WhatsApp response line Click to join the group

8) Microsoft's COVID-19 Tracker www.bing.com/covid

Tags: #COVID19 #coronavirus #SouthAfrica #Africa

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What can we do about the lack of power in South Africa?

Kelvin Power Station in Ekurhuleni

South-Africa is currently in great need of power, not military power, not political power, but electrical power. The reasons for this lack are many and a shame for the citizens. Let's discuss some actions we can take to help resolve this dilemma.

Grootvlei Power Station in Mpumalanga

As a believer, I know that prayer is powerful and we should not neglect this avenue. The Bible reminds us: "The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous."
Proverbs 15:29 ESV The Lord commands us to always pray: "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 New International Version (NIV)
and in James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Eskom Transmission Lines in Tshwane

We can reduce the demand and use less electricity. We can switch of lights, shower shorter and reduce the temperature. Let's switch of the air conditioners that has become a "must".

Solar Panels in the Western Cape

We all need to pay for the electricity that we use. As a result of our sad past a culture of non payment for services still has to be eradicated. Any service we use costs money to provide. It is only just that the user of the service or commodity would pay for it!

Transmission Lines in need of maintenance!

When we come to Eskom there are many things that can be done. Competent people are key in any organisation. There are currently too many employees. The number will have to be reduced. We also need to embark on more training and education of the employees to have the necessary skills and experience to run such a huge organization. Let us pray for the employees. Many of them are hardworking and knowledgeable, but are caught in a catch-22 situation. There are middle men skimming much cream from coal and other contracts and it will have to stop. Employees must be paid what they deserve and no bonuses that are not linked to performance should be paid. Eskom must ensure it pays the many suppliers that are awaiting payment for services and goods supplied. We need to do proactive rather than reactive maintenance.

Renewable energy needs to be implemented at an ever greater speed. Solar cells have improved significantly in the last decade! There are an ever increasing number of wind turbines in South Africa.

Wind Turbine - 3MW at the Waainek Wind Farm near Grahamstown in the eastern Cape.

We need more independent power producers. Government should expedite the implementation of existing legislation.

Details of the Waainek Wind Farm near Grahamstown in the eastern Cape.

Lastly, government who is the citizens' agent should ensure that corporate governance is brought in line with international accepted good practice. For way too long the board of ESKOM failed its duties and obligations.

"Everything will be right if everyone does his duty"3 That requires everyone, including all people of this lovely country of ours to do what we are called to do. Let's start today and not wait for tomorrow.

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Bulawayo Power Station - Not operational

Solar Panels in the rural areas of Northern Kenya

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References:
1) Growth of photovoltaics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_photovoltaics

2) What are the biggest advances of the last decade in solar energy? https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-biggest-advances-of-the-last-decade-in-solar-energy

3) Jan Brand https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brand

Candles are a backup, not a real solution.

Note: All photos were taken by the author

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How do you say NO to somebody asking for a Bible?

This week I was forced to say "No" to many requests for a Bible. There are several reasons why the "No" answer had to be given.

We were blessed by donors, who made it possible for me to travel with about 260 this week. It is simply not enough to provide in the vast need. I have been asked for a Bible by many people living in a rural area of Kenya. The hunger for the Word of God in the vernacular is both a blessing and a huge concern. The harvest is ready but the workers are few. Luke 10:2 In the group of workers I include missionaries, Bible Translators, sponsors and donors, as the rural people simply do not have the material means to afford Bibles. They might be able to afford a printed Bible, but as an example - for the Luo language only between 10% to 30% of mother tongue speakers can read! 1 This is very common for rural situations in Africa.

Some requested languages that have not yet been translated or recorded. In Africa there are about 700 languages without a translated Bible. In many languages the Bibles are available, but have not yet been recorded. I think of Luo, Herero and many others.

Some requested it at a much lower price than the production cost! Again I had to say "No". We are so thankful that MegaVoice celebrated its 30th year in January 2018. It is always a major challenge to have income and expenses balanced. We are grateful to the Lord for supporters that have helped to cover shortfalls over the years. Just this evening I received a call from a "closed country" with a request for Bibles at a reduced price. I could not say "Yes", but with more supporters I would have been able to say "Yes" to more!

On a much lighter note, we thank the Lord for the 30 years that MegaVoice has produced more than 2 million Bible players and we now have access to full Bibles in more than 100 languages and New Testaments in more than 500 languages 2.

Please continue to pray with us for the above matters.

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References:

1) Luo L1 (mother tongue speakers) literacy is only between 10 and 30% www.ethnologue.com/language/luo and www.ethnologue.com/about/language-info

2) MegaVoice Newsletter June 2018

Related:

1) MegaVoice International www.megavoiceinternational.org

Anneli Reyneke vertel van Ruan op RadioKansel

Anneli en Ruan was 11 maande getroud voor dat Ruan onverwags oorlede is. Ons ken nie die toekoms nie, maar ons ken die Een wat die toekoms in Sy hande hou. Laat ek die onderhoud nie vooruitloop nie, maar dis kosbaar om te hoor.

Luister hoe Ruan se dood lewe vir ander gebring het. Anneli ons bid vir jou want dit is nie maklik om alleen agter te bly nie.

Luister na 'n onderhoud met Anneli op RadioKansel KlikHier of gaan na www.megavoice.co.za/audio/Anneli_Reyneke_Radio_Kansel_20150611.mp3

www.radiokansel.co.za

www.odf.org.za

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Let us plant trees in 2015!

On this first day of 2015, I wish you a wonderful 2015! I have lately been pondering on the parallel between planting trees and making long term changes and investments in life. This is my wish for us in our personal and spiritual life as well as for communities and our beloved country.

South Africa needs more power. Yes electricity, but not only electricity, we also need a skilled labour force. Building electricity generation plants take many years and needs to be initiated on time to meet future demands. Similarly we need to educate and train the youth to become business people, engineers, teachers, lawyers, accountants, artisans etc. The list is endless, but we need good skills to produce services and products that we can sell on the international market and earn much needed foreign currency. The power plants and education is like trees that we need to plant now to be able to harvest in 25 years’ time. If you fail to plant now you and your children will not reap the benefits. There is no short term solution or a quick fix. A large pine tree is not 3 or 4 years old, it is more like 25 to 35 years old.

Pine trees planted years ago not yet ready to be harvested

As families we need to spend more quality time to build character and lead by example. As I am now a grandfather I realize that my grandparents, uncles and aunts have all played a part in my life. We all make mistakes, but it is how we handle the mistakes that change the result. We need to confess and correct our mistakes. We should bear the fruit of the spirit – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version (NIV)

Sustainable harvesting. Leave some to be harvested next year and the following years. Plant as you harvest.

May we in 2015 be like the man in Psalm one:

1 Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

New International Version (NIV)

Succession planning! Plant for the next generation to harvest.

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A Laymans' case study in Security - Why is your PASSWORD important to others - Part 2

A weak password is no longer a personal matter! You may put others at risk with your weak password. You may ask: but how and why do you say that? You may argue 'but I don't have "Top Secret" information on my Facebook page or my Twitter post are open' etc. Let me explain with some examples and case studies.

Case 1: Joe Bloke supporting a unlisted group on Facebook.

Joe is a very enthusiastic fan of ABC sport club. He spoke to Norman his friend who told him of an unlisted secret strategy discussion group, ABC_S_Fans who help to plan and strategies ABC sport club's games. ABC_S_Fans discusses against the competition.

Joe is a very open guy with no secrets. He does not lock his car when out on shopping. His universal password is "123456". He requests to become a member of the ABC_S_Fans group. Mary receives the request and checks a few things and is satisfied that Joe is a loyal supporter of ABC sport club and that he is not associated with XYZ, the main rivals. :) Mary approved his request to join the list!

Mary does not know about Joe's weakness for the password "123456".

XYZ, in a planning session, tasks Pete Nerd to get behind ABC's winning strategy. He suspects that Joe Bloke is supporting ABC and attempts to hack Joe's facebook account. He tries the 25 most common passwords, among which "123456" is very popular. To his great joy he succeeded! He then regularly logged in on Joe's account without changing anything! He just observed and quickly became aware of the unlisted secret group ABC_S_Fans!

Mary and the rest of the ABC team are baffled by XYZ seemingly to know what their strategy is for every game. Pete tipped off a reporter at the Herald who then started hinting towards what ABC's plans are! Every time spot on!

This is a fictitious case, but with little imagination you can deduct the implications!

PLEASE use secure passwords. Remember to use a different password for each service / website / group etc!

Read the following articles for more shocking information on passwords!

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http://splashdata.com/press/worstpasswords2013.htm

"Password" unseated by "123456" on SplashData's annual "Worst Passwords" list

The 2013 list of worst passwords, influenced by postings from the Adobe breach, demonstrates the importance of not basing passwords on the application or website being accessed

LOS GATOS, CA – SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet. For the first time since SplashData began compiling its annual list, "password" has lost its title as the most common and therefore Worst Password, and two-time runner-up "123456" took the dubious honor. "Password" fell to #2.

According to SplashData, this year's list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following Adobe's well publicized security breach.

"Seeing passwords like 'adobe123' and 'photoshop' on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing," says Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData.

SplashData's list of frequently used passwords shows that many people continue to put themselves at risk by using weak, easily guessable passwords. Some other passwords in the Top Ten include "qwerty," "abc123," "111111," and "iloveyou."

"Another interesting aspect of this year's list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies," Slain said. For example, new to this year's list are simple and easily guessable passwords like "1234" at #16, "12345" at #20, and "000000" at #25.

SplashData, provider of the SplashID Safe line of password management applications, releases its annual list in an effort to encourage the adoption of stronger passwords. "As always, we hope that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites."

Presenting SplashData's "Worst Passwords of 2013":

Rank	Password	Change from 2012
1	123456	Up 1
2	password	Down 1
3	12345678	Unchanged
4	qwerty	Up 1
5	abc123	Down 1
6	123456789	New
7	111111	Up 2
8	1234567	Up 5
9	iloveyou	Up 2
10	adobe123	New
11	123123	Up 5
12	admin	New
13	1234567890	New
14	letmein	Down 7
15	photoshop	New
16	1234	New
17	monkey	Down 11
18	shadow	Unchanged
19	sunshine	Down 5
20	12345	New
21	password1	Up 4
22	princess	New
23	azerty	New
24	trustno1	Down 12
25	000000	New

SplashData's top 25 list was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year. The company advises consumers or businesses using any of the passwords on the list to change them immediately.

SplashData suggests making passwords more secure with these tips:

Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. But even passwords with common substitutions like "dr4mat1c" can be vulnerable to attackers' increasingly sophisticated technology, and random combinations like "j%7K&yPx$" can be difficult to remember. One way to create more secure passwords that are easy to recall is to use passphrases -- short words with spaces or other characters separating them. It's best to use random words rather than common phrases. For example, "cakes years birthday" or "smiles_light_skip?"
Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Especially risky is using the same password for entertainment sites that you do for online email, social networking, or financial service sites. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.

Having trouble remembering all those different strong passwords? Try using a password manager application that organizes and protects passwords and can automatically log you into websites. There are numerous applications available, but choose one with a strong track record of reliability and security like SplashID Safe, which has a 10 year history and over 1 million users. SplashID Safe has versions available for Windows and Mac as well as smartphones and tablet devices.

About SplashData, Inc.

SplashData has been a leading provider of password management applications for over 10 years. SplashID Safe (www.splashid.com) has grown to be most trusted multi-platform password solution for both the consumer and enterprise markets with over 1 million users worldwide. SplashID Safe's popularity continues to rise as the number of user names, passwords, and account numbers most people have to remember is rapidly multiplying. At the same time, the risk of this kind of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands has never been greater. SplashID Safe helps solve this dilemma by creating an encrypted digital safe available on smartphones, computers, USB keys, or online, offering the peace of mind of being able to access critical information whenever needed while maintaining the security of 256-bit encryption. SplashData was founded in 2000 and is based in Los Gatos, CA.

Press Contact:

Kevin Doel
TalonPR, Inc.
785-273-9660
kevin@talonpr.com

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-25-most-common-passwords-of-2013/

The 25 most common passwords of 2013

ISTOCKPHOTO

Password security is more important than ever. If you wonder which ones are the worst to use, check out the 25 most common passwords of 2013 and avoid them like the plague.

According to password management company SplashData, the top three passwords of the year are “123456,” “password” and “12345678.” The top three passwords haven't changed, but "123456" and "password" swapped places from last year. The company's list of the "25 worst passwords of the year" was compiled using data that hackers have posted online, which are said to be stolen passwords.

This year’s list had a large number of Adobe Systems-themed words and short strings of numbers. Words like "jesus," "football" and "ninja" -- which were popular last year -- dropped off the list in 2013.

"Seeing passwords like 'adobe123' and 'photoshop' on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing," Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, said in a press release.

How can consumer protect themselves? SplashData suggests these tips for making more secure passwords:

Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. But even passwords with common substitutions like "dr4mat1c" can be vulnerable to attackers' increasingly sophisticated technology, and random combinations like "j%7K&yPx$" can be difficult to remember. One way to create more secure passwords that are easy to recall is to use passphrases -- short words with spaces or other characters separating them. It's best to use random words rather than common phrases. For example, "cakes years birthday" or "smiles_light_skip?"

Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Especially risky is using the same password for entertainment sites that you do for online email, social networking, or financial service sites. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.

Having trouble remembering all those different strong passwords? Try using a password manager application that organizes and protects passwords and can automatically log you into websites.

Here are the 25 most common passwords of 2013, along with the change in rank from last year.

1. 123456 (Up 1)

2. password (Down 1)

3. 12345678 (Unchanged)

4. qwerty (Up 1)

5. abc123 (Down 1)

6. 123456789 (New)

7. 111111 ( Up 2)

8. 1234567 (Up 5)

9. iloveyou (Up 2)

10. adobe123 (New)

11. 123123 (Up 5)

12. admin (New)

13. 1234567890 (New)

14. letmein (Down 7)

15. photoshop (New)

16. 1234 (New)

17. monkey (Down 11)

18. shadow (Unchanged)

19. sunshine (Down 5)

20. 12345 (New)

21. password1 (up 4)

22. princess (New)

23. azerty (New)

24. trustno1 (Down12)

25. 000000 (New)

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