Tech

‘Don’t bring this upon yourself’: Toronto COVID-19 survivor’s message to unvaccinated individuals – Global News

Published

3 years ago

September 1, 2021

As Mary Dalianis reflects on the last five months, including the devastating loss of her mother, the COVID-19 survivor becomes overwhelmed with emotion.

“I’m not going to break down and cry, I promised myself, but I hate to have lost her that way due to COVID-19 because my mom was medically stable. She had her challenges, but she didn’t have to die that way,” said Dalianis, wiping tears from her eyes.

The family contracted COVID-19 in March, possibly from a local supermarket, though the exact point of exposure is unconfirmed.

Dalianis’ mother was about to be vaccinated when she became ill, though she herself was not yet eligible.

“Unfortunately she went into the hospital before then … my mom had a very high fever, she would lose her balance, she would fall so the ambulance was called. Then two days later, I went with the same high fever. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. I had pneumonia in the beginning. But they later diagnosed me as well with COVID-19,” recalled Dalianis.

Her own symptoms worsened quickly and she was intubated in the ICU at Toronto Western Hospital.

“I believe I was getting maximum oxygen. I had sepsis, I had lung abscesses, necrotizing pneumonia, which is the worst kind of pneumonia you can get, a pulmonary embolism … And I had clots in my legs,” she said.

While attached to a ventilator, Dalianis was unaware her mother had died of the virus.

“My aunt came up and told me that my mom passed away and I was shocked. I don’t remember anything in ICU, only going under, that’s it,” she said.

The hardest part of the five-month long ordeal, said Dalianis, was not getting the opportunity to say goodbye to her mother.

“The hardest news I ever had to receive was the death of my mom. She was a very special lady, very special lady,” she said.

After being released from hospital, Dalianis spent weeks at Bridgepoint Health undergoing intensive rehabilitation to learn to walk and talk again.

Just last month, she was finally able to return home.

“They worked hard with me and I was able to walk within a month and a half. I gained back my mobility, my brain, walking, talking — doing everything I did before in life a little slower, but I’m much better now and getting stronger each day,” she said.

As Ontarians get ready to show proof of vaccination to enter certain businesses and public spaces, Dalianis said she is hopeful more people who have yet to get the vaccine will now access it.

She herself is double vaccinated.

“I urge you from the bottom of my heart, [as] someone who has suffered a great loss, my mom, and I regained my health, please do not go through what I did,” said Dalianis.

“I went through a lot of heartache, pain and emotional trauma. Don’t bring this upon yourself. Get vaccinated.”

Dalianis credited Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, infectious diseases specialist at the University Health Network, with saving her life.

“He’s my hero because he fought along with my friends in ICU … they fought hard and through the grace of God, they saved me,” she said.

“I remember the first time I laid eyes on her, I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness,’ what she had gone through being so sick in the intensive care unit, how serious the complications were with respect to her COVID pneumonia, the clots that she endured afterwards, the sepsis and the serious life-threatening organ dysfunction that she went through, and she looked like she should have really been left for dead,” recalled Sharkawy.

He said he was amazed when suddenly one day “she just came to life.”

“She literally started talking and started smiling and started interacting and engaging,” he said, adding, “this is the reason we practice medicine, is to be able to see people emerge from the depths of despair and medical distress and to rise above it and to show us the resilience and strength and really the grace and humility that it takes to get through these difficulties.”

Sharkawy said he hopes people hear Dalianis’ message and heed the warning.

“COVID-19 isn’t going away. The pandemic might end very soon, hopefully, but the disease isn’t going away entirely,” Sharkawy said.

“We’ve got to do whatever we can to continue to spread a message that’s going to keep people safe, prevent them from being unnecessarily exposed, or if they’re exposed, immunized and vaccinated so that they can defend themselves and keep themselves and the rest of their communities healthy.”

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COVID-19: Ontario unveils plan for proof of vaccination certificates

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Tech

Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Tech

Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

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