Crossed Signals
One of the more dubious joys of working at home means spending more time with your family. And as everyone is turning to online sources for information and entertainment, there are further complications. Apart from having to repeatedly fill in the wi-fi password for their elders, people have noticed that said wi-fi is slowing down thanks to all the additional usage. So, earlier this week, UK telecom regulator Ofcom gave a number of tips on boosting your signal, including refraining from using the microwave, when doing data-heavy activities. “So don’t use the microwave when you’re making video calls, watching HD videos or doing something important online,” wrote Ofcom, adding that another critical element to good wi-fi is where the router is placed. Ofcom says, “Keep it away from devices such as cordless phones, stereos, halogen lamps, TVs and dimmer switches, in order to get the best possible connection, and put it on a table or shelf rather than the floor.” Ofcom also requested UK citizens to make calls over their landline or Wi-Fi connection so as to relieve pressure on mobile phone networks.
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Love in the Times of Corona
You knew this one was coming. Even as people remained confined to the not-as-great indoors, with nothing to do but work from home, cook, clean, and binge watch movies and shows. As a large number of those quarantined are couples, that particular segment has more options in passing time. The Internet is rife with speculation about the baby boom this period of isolation will usher in. Rajiv Mehta, consultant psychiatrist at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital told PTI, “In times of war and epidemics, intimacy levels go up among sexual partners. People are anxious and living at home. Couples, who were too busy with their professional lives are now getting proximity and time. So intimacy will increase.”
On a Wing and a Prayer
VietJet, the popular Vietnamese budget airline, often informally tagged as the ‘bikini airlines’ after it ran several successful (if rather questionable) campaigns, featuring its female flight attendants catering to passengers in bikinis, is back with another marketing strategy. And it’s bound to, dare we say it, go viral. With the mass cancelation of travel plans for the foreseeable future by pretty much everyone in the world leading to severe economic crises for every airliner in the world, VietJet has decided to take a controversial approach to counter flagging sales. It has launched an insurance policy, Sky Covid Care, which allows passengers to claim up to 200 million Vietnamese dong (close to Rs 6.5 lakh), if they get infected with the virus while traveling on one of its flights. The policy is free of charge and covers all domestic flights between March 23 and June 30, 2020, and is to help “bring passengers assurance,” according to the airline.