SARS
We temporarily have a second modem now, still waiting for DSL. It should already be set-up now, we just need to set-up our network for it (gateways, firewalls, etc).
Dan gillmor has an interesting piece on how news about the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus initially spread:
It wasn’t newspapers or television or radio that originally spread the word about the outbreak of a serious respiratory illness, now known as SARS, in southeast China. It was SMS — text messages on mobile phones.
It seems that the fear of the virus is adversely affecting the lives of people in the countries where the virus is more widespread. Currently this includes Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Singapore. Horror stories include taxis not stopping for certain customers, nurses being told to avoid using the elevators, and people being sent home from work if suspected of being in contact with anyone who may have themselves come in contact with the virus. This Channel Asia piece sums it up well.