I'm more focused on groceries at the moment..
https://www.walmart.com/ideas/discover-online-grocery/google...
Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
61–70 of 223 posts
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#62Most people don’t know what Alphabet is, or that Google and Verily are under it’s umbrella. I think it’s fine that they just used Google as a general place-in term for the article.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
But Google themselves have said it exists: https://twitter.com/Google_Comms/status/1238989460127338497
As has been pointed out ad nausum, what Google said was "Verily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time." which clearly does not match the product announced by the executive branch (i.e. it's not for everyone, there's no existing plan for rollout beyond the bay area). And pointing that messaging mixup out is part of the…
That may have been the case initially, but is clearly no longer true if you click through to the statement I linked. I'm not sure if Google was planning this prior to Trump's announcement or if it's reactionary, but the relevant portion is here:
"Google is partnering with the US Government in developing a nationwide website that includes information about COVID-19 symptoms, risk and testing information.
This is in addition to other measures we are taking, including:...Work being done by our sister company Verily to launch a pilot website that will enable individuals to do a risk assessment and be scheduled for testing at sites in the Bay Area..."
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#64Why is Google (and for that matter Apple) not helping to track the prior movement of every coronavirus patient where possible to identify additional potentially exposed individuals? Seems fairly straightforward given their massive surveillance infrastructure. Anyone at Apple or Google actually going to pitch in here and offer meaningful help? So far, crickets.
Because that would be an incredible violation of privacy and is probably illegal? I’m not even sure China does that.
Oh they’re doing that. You can use AliPay, an omnipresent payments app to get a QR code based on your movements over the past days as tracked by your mobile. If it’s green you’re safe, yellow or red I think you need to be quarantined or at least monitored.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think the President ever mentioned it being next week. Also, see this from Google communication: https://twitter.com/Google_Comms/status/1238989460127338497 This effort for a nationwide testing website is different from and in addition to what Verily was already doing at a smaller scale in Bay Area (although I imagine there will be lots of overlap and shared code etc.)
What about the 1700 engineers bit?
They sent a company-wide email looking for volunteers to help build the site. 1,700 engineers responded. This obviously doesn't mean that 1,700 people are going to work on the site.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I found this site about Singapore yesterday. This kind of detail would never fly in the US. But they do seem to have used it effectively to track the spread of the disease: https://co.vid19.sg/cases
Holy crap! That's an impressive set of data. The first thing that came to my mind is HIPAA (I know it's US only). There are more than enough details for each patient to figure out who they are. They list employer, when they traveled, family members, etc.
That level of detail is definitely enough to unmask an individual but if you wanted to protect the infected person's privacy (while massively violating others' in order to join the data sets), it seems like it would be possible to notify an individual that they were exposed, and not leak the infected person's personal details.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#67Found it strange that some parts of media decided to focus on the semantics of Google and Verily being different subsidiaries of Alphabet. This is an almost meaningless detail.
Because it's yet another detail that he's gotten wrong and shows that he's not paying attention. He made several incorrect statements about who is building the site, how many people are working on it, when it will be ready and who the target audience is. It's been a valve of mistakes this week that just show he isn't treating this seriously.
Yes but that’s the point, the news coverage should help to focus on the important details that were wrong, like will this service ever be available and when. Misusing Google in place of Alphabet is not even worth correcting someone on in a casual conversation, much less focusing articles on during a crisis.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#68For what it's worth, here's what CNN was reporting Friday night:
Google will not be publishing a national-scale website for coronavirus testing anytime soon, contrary to claims made by President Donald Trump during a Friday news conference.
Instead, a health-focused subsidiary owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, intends to launch a small-scale website next week to begin to triage California-based patients. The website will aim to serve a broader population only “over time” — not “very quickly,” as Trump said.
“What we’re building is a triage tool that will live on ProjectBaseline.com, and we plan to pilot it in California next week,” said Carolyn Wang, a spokesperson for the Alphabet subsidiary, Verily.
“Our aspiration is for the triage tool to be used much more broadly over time. Initially, we’re linking it with several sites in the Bay Area to test and iterate, and collaborating closely with organizations like Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp who are also working on additional approaches to making testing more accessible and expedient in other areas.”
https://www.siliconvalley.com/2020/03/13/google-says-its-not...
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#69For what it's worth, here's what CNN was reporting Friday night: Google will not be publishing a national-scale website for coronavirus testing anytime soon, contrary to claims made by President Donald Trump during a Friday news conference. Instead, a health-focused subsidiary owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, intends to launch a small-scale website next week to begin to triage California-based patients. Th…
This is older news. Latest news from today is Google is also working on a nationwide testing website.
Re: Alphabet, Walmart join U.S. effort to speed up coronavirus testing
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it's yet another detail that he's gotten wrong and shows that he's not paying attention. He made several incorrect statements about who is building the site, how many people are working on it, when it will be ready and who the target audience is. It's been a valve of mistakes this week that just show he isn't treating this seriously.
Yes but that’s the point, the news coverage should help to focus on the important details that were wrong, like will this service ever be available and when. Misusing Google in place of Alphabet is not even worth correcting someone on in a casual conversation, much less focusing articles on during a crisis.
Exactly stop with the dumb idiotic politics were in a pandemic and even both sides are coming together (setting aside the stupidity) to focus on trying to defeat this virus.