Many families now rely solely on their home connections to take meetings via video conference or help their children complete the day’s lessons, not to mention leverage telemedicine to safely visit the doctor. But for the poorest among us — those who once had the option to visit the local library or head into the office to get a reliable connection — the bandwidth available to them at home often isn’t enough.
Facts, fantasy, political fights or propaganda? The constant news and social media onslaught exploding on the internet can make it difficult to tell one from the other. Join us as we discuss why disinformation and superstition flourish in times of plague, and look at the present moment in the media through the lens of the history and literature of plagues past, from "The Decameron" to today.
Wilson's (NC) community broadband, Greenlight, has stepped in to help teachers in the wake of COVID-19. Greenlight laid more than 3,000 feet of fiber optic cable to connect students and teachers and has added 150 new customers since the outbreak started. And they've seen outbound traffic skyrocket. Between Feb and April, outbound traffic increased by 23 percent in the 9 o'clock hour and 44 percent at noon. This is likely due to the rise of online conference calls.
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