It'll Soon Be Half a Decade Since COVID-19's Breakout, We Still Need Verified Facts (Not Corporate Dogma) and Proper Media Reporting
Empty Paper Plates Shelves at Walmart (Because of COVID-19 Scare)
2019 had changed a lot for us and more so 2020, as lockdowns began in most of Europe. We started recording videos (over a thousand since!), we expanded to Gemini, we joined IPFS etc.
Almost 5 years later a lot more Brits than before are still dying (my guess as to the underlying causes wouldn't be suitable for this site), many workers are forced back into the office despite no real business benefits, and companies cull workers like never before (except maybe last century). They used to say it's because of the pandemic, now they just habitually name-drop buzzwords like "hey hi" (AI). That doesn't even need to make sense; the media will just parrot any excuse they give.
COVID-19 has in some ways benefited us because it gave us more time to work on the site and go beyond the site. A year after the lockdowns we moved our IRC presence from Freenode to our own (self-hosted) and 2 years after the lockdowns I set up my own 'office' downstairs. It's a lot easier to focus and be productive down here; it is quieter and it's not far from the coffee machine.
COVID-19 has meant different things to different people. As a "remote" (home) worker myself, it didn't impact me much. My wife also worked from home, so it had minimal impact on her.
The media is barely reporting on some important documents that came out in the US, the UK, and the EU. They deal with misuse of funds and even some illegal contracting. Our guess is that the media is afraid that reporting on that would "discredit" authorities and "help" the crowd hostile towards all vaccines. But the media still has an actual obligation to relay the facts. If the media fails to do this, others will fill the vacuum (sadly cranks, too). █