TTJ 2020

COVID-19 THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY

WELCOME TO OUR STORIES

The Coronavirus pandemic has triggered a wide variety of emotions, both positive and negative, for people across the globe. It has also forced adjustment in our working lives, the way we behave as consumers and our attitudes towards politics, each other and societal norms. The mandated solitude can lead to periods of sustained reflection, loneliness, dark mental health problems and instability. Everybody’s case is different; some are alone at home, others spending the time with immediate family or cooped up with flatmates - there’s even stories of people stuck on the other side of the planet, unable to return from holiday. All of this begs the question of whether we should judge each other’s behaviour during the crisis. Is how we cope with this unprecedented situation indicative of us as a person? Do our true selves come to the fore, or can we suggest that this is such a strange time that anyone who comes through it in one piece has done enough?

This magazine explores individual accounts of dating, travelling, working, governmental failures and more. We must also recognise that, at the time of publishing, some 250,000 people are said to have died from the virus.

Most of us on the project are living in Berlin, where we can be grateful for a comparatively mild and well-handled lockdown. We also have contributors from the UK, Taiwan and Italy.

Artists in Solidarity

We would like to raise awareness of a new coronavirus fundraising campaign launched by one of our partners, street artist Ale Senso. Ale lives in Berlin, but is originally from Bergamo, once the epicentre of the Covid-19 crisis, and still one of the worst hit areas. To help provide crucial funding for the overstretched hospitals and medical staff, Ale put together a network of artists who offer their artwork to people in exchange for direct donations to help with the emergency.

Since the outbreak has spread in a similarly devastating fashion across other countries and continents, the artists network is looking to expand, so that we see donations heading to Spain and other badly affected areas. The idea is also to try to attract donations for places with food and supply shortages.

If there’s an artist out there who would like to put their artwork up for donation feel free to contact Ale – artistiinretesolidale@gmail.com, or Will – info@treetoptraveljournalism.com

Check out all the available artwork - https://sites.google.com/view/ artistiinretesolidale-ars

The donations are made directly to the charities / hospitals. You can find the bank details on the website. Once you’ve made your donation, email artistiinretesolidale@gmail.com to confirm your name and where you’d like the artwork delivered. We hope you find a piece of artwork you love and make a donation to this brilliant cause!

Corona Dating

Corona Dating

“What is being built is architecture of oppression [regarding tracking phones]. A global sabbatical - a stressed system, where the leadership is clearly out of its league”.

- Edward Snowden

By Claire

How incredible is this feeling, of waking up every morning, at first with the feeling of slight panic and anxiety, to then experience the realisation of synchronized massconsciousness. I am in Berlin, respecting mild social distancing, walking through Tempelhof Feld under the immaculate spring time blue sky, on the phone talking to my friend Gaelle taking a walk on her end by the Canal St Martin in Locked down Paris. She tells me cops are checking a couple’s paper work on the corner of the street. I feel lucky that Germany hasn’t required us to carry any sort of paper certifying the time and purpose for our outing. How insane is this method of precaution? Are we back in WWII?

I truly value this moment of almost forced self reflection, reconvening with oneself to rethink our incredibly fast paced lifestyle of partaking in the capitalist race.

As our values and mindsets are put to the test by this momentary social pause, I observe with fascination the people around me trying to make sense of how to navigate this crisis. All of a sudden our ratrace stops, leaving us in a space of lingering time. We as human beings are social animals, constantly searching for connections, bonds and association. The concept and practice of solitary confinement is a harsh punishment used in max. security prisons as a form of torture.

As this pandemic explores our governing

through biopolitics, confining our bodies to strict restrictions of social distancing and self quarantine, the question of human relationships arises.

We have already noticed that the rise of the digital area we are living in has previously cut our physical human ties to give way to the cyber connections which sometimes stay virtual forever. This concept of having an excessive amount of online “friends” and contacts has led our society into increasing feelings of loneliness. Our social abilities on many levels have decreased, into increasing feelings of loneliness. Anxiety, depression and mental health are now such common traits in today’s world that we no longer notice their abnormality.

As I ventured into the world of online dating, exploring the various apps and platforms, I found it fascinating and took this experience as a social experiment. The variety of individuals I was meeting was fueling my sociological research, allowing me to enter into diverse universes and a multitude of minds. It seems that our attention span has unfortunately decreased dramatically since social media took over our lives, getting us hooked on the hits of dopamine released by the validation of external approval. Never in history had it been more easy to find a temporary soul to share intimacy with, while maintaining

our independence. It wasn’t true love I was searching for, but the feeling of ecstasy rush through my body and mind as I engaged physically and mentally with these men. The thrill of the unknown, the feeling of being discovered and touched for the first time again and again with adoration, the experience of stepping out of my comfort zone on a regular basis was my drive to continue these encounters.

As the rules surrounding the advent of Covid-19 became more serious, restricting us from engaging in human contact, inflicting fear on the population, targeting the ego as a way of controlling our bodies within spaces, I took the time to rethink my approach regarding the people around me, my close friends, but also the way I had normalized my sexual life in a very liberal way. I had worked on developing a deep sense of self confidence over the years, embracing my independence as a woman, letting go of social pressure which I had now to reevaluate. All of a sudden my ego kicked in as authorities spread fear into the population, installing the concept of social distancing. My dating life which had previously been fed by incredible conscious minds and bodies was now threatened. As I scrolled through the infinity of profiles, I noticed that people from all over the globe were popping up in my feed. This Tinder Passport feature was their way of responding to the crisis. What had previously been a paid perk on the app, for curious individuals, was now open and free for all users to benefit from. There I was conversing with guys from Jerusalem, Brazil and Ukraine. How fascinating was this idea of texting with these people I had never met, and would probably never ever meet. Complete strangers from diverse cultures, experiencing this pandemic simultaneously and for the first time able to communicate with one another across the globe. As I chatted away with numerous people, both local and internationally based, it became apparent that the taboo and self-consciousness, as well as shame associated with dating apps was fading away, as it provided a gateway to an alternative way of connecting with other human beings. Although it was advised to stay indoors in Berlin, I managed to find some people happy to meet up for a date and conversation. It was odd not to hug to say hello. On multiple occasions we attempted to follow the social distancing guidelines of staying one meter fifty apart. This obviously didn’t pan out. Furthermore if individuals were willing to meet during the tight grip of human lockdown, shielded

from the mass fear spread by the media to keep everyone contained at home, they were certainly free thinking and were just pretending to play the game from the start. They shared with me that the only way to meet people was now through the apps, as social spaces such as bars, clubs and events were now off limits. Taking to the multitude of virtual human bank platforms, sourcing individuals to converse and connect with to potentially vanquish the fear of getting contaminated by this world wide virus and perhaps build a human relation. Are online platforms the new/safe way of meeting potential partners? Are they replacing social spaces where one could freely roam and make new friends? How is this pandemic affecting our social abilities, which are already quite fragile due to the rise of technology and social media taking a toll on our mental health… How are we going to evolve, as human beings, on a social level? Will this coronavirus affect our future meet ups and hookups? Is this once again a barrier to marginalized individuals who do not conform to the norm, specifically people who do not follow the idea of monogamy?

This is a beautiful time for each and everyone of us to take a step back from our practices of all kinds which became a part of our routine, and reassess our personal values.

By Sabela

L ove

March 2020 ~

Falling for someone is one of the greatest risks you can take. You never know what you’re getting yourself into. There’s an excitement and fear of the unknown. It inspires and terrifies us. Yet, in early 2020, there is something else lurking that’s stirring feelings equally precarious. Other actions of pleasure and peril in modern times include public spaces, meeting your friends or touching your face without washing your hands.

How do you protect yourself from intimate infatuation and a global pandemic? The Corona Virus has driven the world into shut down, and here I am allowing my heart to be open and vulnerable, unaware of the consequences that may come with it. When you start to really like someone, it flips your stomach, causes uncontrollable smiling and takes your breath away. Warning- the emotional rush and furry is not to be confused with a brutal shortness of breath associated with the disease CoVid19 that’s caused by the virus.

Luckily, I met him at the end of January. Back then the reports on the news seemed fictitious. Entire cities overcome with an apocalyptic emptiness and diggers building hospitals on red clay that looked like Mars. As China grappled with the growing crisis, our ignorance allowed us to continue our lives as if nothing would ever change. How wrong we were.

By Lauren

Oblivious, I allowed myself to explore the whirlpool of emotions that he made me feel. Early days, you need to test the water to make sure you can swim. We took our time getting to know each other. It felt so natural. I just wanted to see him again and again. It wasn’t just a shallow desire. He’s smart, deep and thoughtful. I could speak to him for hours and I just wanted to know more and more. Of course, a part of me was aching to know if he was as intrigued as I was.

Soaring parallelly were the heart palpitations and global pandemonium. I flew back to Ireland for a week at the beginning of March. While the daunting yellow and black posters dominated the airport upon my arrival, I paid little attention to them. I was more concerned about what the week away would mean in terms of my personal life.

Would he grow bored? Would he still be thinking of me just as I was of him?

That slight worry that hung over me all week disappeared when I arrived back to Berlin and he asked me to meet up the following evening. I was thrilled. While that put me at ease in my own head for the following week, uncertainty grew as the reality of the virus began to breathe down our necks. It was announced that Germany would go into a shutdown, meaning that only essential business would remain open. Everything else would be closed. He lives here with two friends that he knows from home. The threat of travel restrictions and bans swirled through the air and his two flatmates decided to go ahead with a trip they had planned to Vietnam. While it’s not the decision I would have chosen, a part of me was selfishly delighted. It might mean that he would want to see me more to break the boredom of quarantine. We hung out that weekend, as we began to brace ourselves for what was about to unfold before our eyes. We went to a bar, after it was announced they were closing. We thought let’s squeeze one more in before, what harm could it do? We sat in a candle lit room behind the bar, surrounded by tables. At 10 p.m. the bar man addressed us all, informing us that police were now patrolling the neighbourhood, forcing closures. We both looked at each other. We had finally come face to face with the gravity of the situation.

Since then, we have been respecting the situation more. We speak almost every day, but the casual meetups have been sliced back to an absolute minimum. We are lucky, we are young, we’re probably not in the high-risk category. But still, it is no guarantee that we are except from deteriorating the situation. Prior to the pandemic, STDs were the most daunting thing you could get from someone you’re dating. Now it’s something almost more taboo. The virus. We’ve been meeting for walks in the park and sitting enjoying the turn of season, the Berlin summer. To feel the heat of the sun in the presence of someone so special makes you forget of the atrocities consuming us. Maybe it is incredibly naïve and foolish, maybe just plain ignorant. But those brief meetings and carefree afternoons get me through each week. We are only humans, after all, all we want is affection and hope. A part of me in jealous of those couples who live together. It must be nice to wake up every day and spend time with someone

spend time with someone who makes you feel the way sherbet sweets do when they hit your tongue, but all over your body. Then a friend told me ‘there’s only so much sex you can have when you’re living with a partner’ and the fantasy was ruined for me. Thanks. Another part of me is excited to see if anyone has luck in future endeavours with those who they matched with on dating apps during quarantine. There are probably no real expectations but, I mean, why not, weirder things have happened.

There’s always an uncertainty in You don’t know how they feel first message or if you’re coming on too strong or not. Of course, this crossed my mind a few times. I am only human. But then I thought to myself; the feelings must be reciprocated if he is going to risk the threat of the virus just to spend some time with me. It was romantic, in an unthinkable kind of way. The situation caused by the virus is far from over. There’s no happy ending to the story. All we are doing now is respecting what we are told to do and hoping for the result we need. Yet, you must wonder about how strange and glorious it is, that a soul can find peace and stability in a time of such chaos. It could just be that I thrive on madness, but I think it’s something else. I think it’s the safety of having someone who inspires and encourages you no matter what’s going on around you.

the early stages of seeing someone. about you, whether you should send the

Dreams come true, and thoughts materialize. Many times I imagined myself working from home happily, and here we go!

The self-isolation mode started almost exactly when I got my new job after five endless months of searching. So when I began working again, everything was new to me - the company, the industry, and the home environment instead of the office.

The last point seemed to be the easiest to get used to, and it was full of advantages. The most longed for was sleep. If your working day starts at 10 AM, instead of bucking along on the metro, you can stay in a warm bed till 9:50 and always be on time. Second, you are now weather-independent. What is the temperature outside? What do people wear? What should I wear? The new permanent answer is pyjamas. Because you don’t go anywhere and your colleagues can’t see and judge you. They probably work in pants too, which is absolutely fine as long as we all feel comfortable and keep our cosy looks private.

The technology made it all possible. You can recreate any office interaction through software. You can hear and see your colleagues whenever you want for free, share screens, and edit documents together. The only thing you can’t do now because of the quarantine is touch them, but that’s not what we should do to our teammates. So I don’t see any problem or any difference between our collaboration capabilities now and then. If my job can be done on an average consumer market computer, I don’t understand why my location matters anymore with the highspeed unlimited internet available.

Speaking of location, by the trial and error method, I discovered that not every corner of my apartment is equally right for my productivity and peace of mind. My first weeks of home office coincided with the stressfulness of hastily educating myself about the new industry. I worked in the living room at that time. The conditions seemed to be adequately planned - a well-lit room, enough space on the table, a comfortable chair. But even when the urgent tasks were done, and the external pressure eased, I still couldn’t focus sitting there and couldn’t understand why. Then one day, I went to the kitchen to take

a break and make espresso in my infallible Italian Moka. I took my laptop and spontaneously decided to stay and work from there till the end of the day. Something in the kitchen environment, apart from the fridge, makes me feel easier and complete things faster. During one of those typically long internal group calls where you mostly just have to listen to your leader’s vision and wisdom, I managed to cook lunch, eat it, and wash the dishes unnoticed, only by switching off the mic.

That made me realize how technology empowers us to define the scope of our involvement. It frees time to do things our way and achieve the same and higher results than at the office. Even though the digital tools come with the cost of privacy, I don’t see how we can do without them, especially now in quarantine. As the situation gets better and the restrictions get lifted, most likely, my company will return to the office soon. But will we return the same? Will we switch back as if nothing happened? I’m asking myself what I would prefer now, home or the office, and I’m afraid the first one sounds best to me. Having just found the inner balance after the 180-degree turn of the working conditions, I honestly don’t want to go back to the office anymore. Literally or not, Coronavirus has changed my DNA. The world will never be the same, they say. My inner world won’t. That’s for sure.

Raised as an obedient 9-to-5 office worker, I became curious about remote work around 5 years ago. Then it seemed like something hipster, uncommon but appealing. I never made an effort, or dared to try it, but 2020 gave me a free demo that I liked a lot and I now want to get the unlimited version. Happily, the choice of remote-first companies is broad and diverse nowadays - from software development to e-commerce, design, and marketing. Many of them were founded 8-10 years ago. Currently, each one has hundreds of international employees who can work from anywhere in the world. They can also enjoy a full range of benefits such as unlimited vacation, healthcare, a retirement plan, profit sharing, computer and software setup, and annual company retreats. In my opinion, the pandemics negative social and economic impact is milder, thanks to the fully-remote companies. They have been ahead of their time and managed to stay stable or even unaffected by the virus. The definition of a reliable business does not include an office anymore. That is a shift the world did not expect to happen so soon.

As the boundary between work and home disappeared, and jobs invaded the living spaces of unprepared people like me, we started working much more. I rarely finish at 7 as I should, and my global colleagues say the same. Quarantine tested us for discipline and showed employers that most of their workers do not need to gather in one room every day to deliver and reach goals. I suppose for some company owners and managers, Coronavirus has been a proof of trust to their teams and for others, rather a power crisis. At one Berlin company, the employees have to report all their actions and interactions daily. The management probably feels insecure without seeing their workforce around and having immediate access to it. That story made me think that not only have we got a great chance to test ourselves, but also see clearly who we work for and with.

But working hard is not the problem. I realized that I don’t want to spend my whole life making someone else’s dreams come true. We have all seen the wise quotes repeating, life is a journey. You need to enjoy the process and fill it with the meaning. But these phrases don’t strike you when you are totally comfortable, covered by the thick blanket of routine. Situations like Coronavirus are necessary for many of us. To take a leap forward, we sometimes need to be first thrown off our stride. That was precisely what happened to me during the quarantine.

It has pushed me to the edge psychologically and has woken me up. Most importantly, it made me finally start doing something for myself. A month ago, I decided to exercise at home, which I never wanted to do before because the gym seemed much more effective and fun. The surprising result that I got from this new habit is not only an improved shape but an overall discipline. I became more organized at work, more mentally stable to face stress, and, most importantly, determined to work on my personal project, my YouTube blog. Today I have 19 followers and a huge passion for doing what I love.

I was supposed to write a text about working from home for the first time, so I intended to do it when I first sat down with my laptop. But my remote work experience turned out to be much more profound than I had thought at the beginning of March when it all started. Therefore I couldn’t help but share my transformation story with you.

Sometimes the only way to wake up and start living consciously is by overcoming challenges, the good-old going out of your comfort zone, even without having to go out of your home. My main revelation from the Coronavirus time is that the best things and greatest personal achievements may come from the unrelated changes and the smallest steps you take.

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

Front Line

By Lauren

Is this a temporary change or a permanent shift in the way we work?

In early February I got a mini-job* offer working in an organic supermarket here in Berlin. My landlord, who owned the shop, reached out to me and asked if I was available to work for a two-week period as a cashier. It was funny, I had just left my previous job in a clothing store less than a week before and it felt like this was a saving grace. How could I be so lucky?

After the two weeks were over, I was asked if a permanent position would be of interest. I was thrilled and accepted with slight complication: I was working an evening or two in a pub as well and wanted to be able to continue. Eventually it got sorted and a 25 hours a week, part-time contract was signed. It was all going swimmingly. The roster is in the back office of the shop and it is beautifully colour coordinated. I can spot my name easily and note which days I am working. As human beings we like order and routine. We thrive on the capacity to plan and we always try to predict. But nobody could have seen this coming.

* Mini-job is a German term used to describe part time work with low income (450€ per month) which is not subjected to tax.

As I began to settle into my new role (a very glamourous one, selling organic fruit and vegetable to the upper classes in the prestigious district of Charlottenburg) an unsettling feeling crept up on Berlin. By the end of the first week of my new contract, it was announced that all employees in non-essential businesses were to work from home and all bars and restaurants were to be shut.

The Corona pandemic has affected workers in all sectors. It has been an inescapable nightmare for some and a mild inconvenience for others. It is hard to imagine this impact that this will have on us in the long run. Is the change in our working lives due to Corona only a temporary measure, or will we ever be able to return to the normal way? How has it changed?

On the Monday of the first week of lock down my mum called me and asked me what I wanted to do: remain in Germany or fly back to Ireland to spend the time with my family. I was slightly shocked. I thought about it briefly and told her I was happy to stay. I was still working a few shifts here and there in the supermarket and with that money I would be able to cover my rent. Almost immediately after getting off the phone to her, my boss rang me, asking if I could work that day and whether I would be able to take on more shifts over the coming weeks as some other staff were calling in sick or had no choice to stay home and look after their children. Since the pub I worked in was closed under the new measures, I confirmed that I was able to work full time for the foreseeable future.

The change in consumer habits was noted almost immediately as the threat of a lockdown loomed. The German verb to stock up is ‘hamstern’ (literally to hamster) means to accumulate like a hamster would. Toilet paper, tins of tomatoes and noodles; this was a global phenomenon. Trolley loads upon trolley loads arrived at the till and my arms ached by the end of the days. The panic buying was the first change.

Then came the protect measures. Gloves initially. I didn’t mind wearing them, but it was difficult to type and pick up change. My hands

were wrinkled and dry at the end of my shift. Still, it was manageable. The biggest shock came at the start of the second week. Plastic sheeting draped from the ceiling at the cash points to prevent the spread of germs between customers and cashiers. It was shocking. Someone pointed out that it looked like a hospital and another like a festival tarp. I suppose that summarises the mindset of the people during this time. The sheet was completely opaque, and I could hardly see a thing. As a joke my co-workers would shout and ask if I was this there and I would reply: ‘ja, unfortunately.’ Eventually a Perspex screening was introduced so I could see who I was dealing with and what was going on again. And, just like that, it became normal. The reason why, I believe, this situation is so astonishing to us is because we have never faced anything like it before. I was lucky, I suppose, because apart from a change in consumer habits, not much was altered in my professional life. Many friends of mine, for example, were now working from a home office. An almost alien concept. One of whom pointed out that the first week of home office was exciting because it was novel. It felt like a holiday. He found it easy to plan out and structure initially. Then, before long, came two realisations: the reality that this wasn’t going to be a two-week lock down as planned, and the monotony of the tasks he was doing daily. Without interaction with colleagues, the most enjoyable aspect of the office atmosphere is lost. Zoom calls replacing casual conversations in the kitchen and sharing beers via video chat instead of in a true, social setting doesn’t allow for the same sort of social interaction and bonding that we as humans crave. Participation in sports clubs is valued on a C.V. because it shows ability to work in a team, which is vital in almost every working environment. Human contact is something that will be almost impossible to replicate with technology and it is becoming evident from this period of social distancing. Not just in our professional lives but personal ones too.

To continue to work outside of the home during a global pandemic is a strange thing. I would get the S-Bahn at peak commute times and have a whole 4-seater compartment to myself, sometimes even the whole carriage. I would be questioned by my inquisitive flatmates when I returned, asking me what it was like outside and was there many people. I would tell them the truth: I noted fewer people on the streets, but in the supermarket, it was almost as if nothing had

changed. It was a microcosm exempt from the rules of normality. Although stressful at times, I am happy to be able to continue to deal with customers. From my friend’s perspective, it appears that the hardest part of home office is the lack of casual conversations with his co-workers.

How will it impact the future of working?

It’s impossible to imagine what the outcome of this will be. Without a vaccination, it is hard to know when this process of social distancing will be over, and we can go back to normal. And I question furtherwill things ever be able to go back to ‘normal’?

Inevitably there will be global economic consequences to this pandemic. It’s impossibly to predict exactly what they will be, but a universal recession is highly likely. Stock markets are falling, and unemployment is rising. The first I have little understanding of. The second, however, is something I have seen affect so many of my friends and family. Fortunately, most can benefit from state support, but the future is fearful and bleak. We cannot picture how our world will look in 6 months. But we can always hope.

A personal hope of mine is that low skilled workers and health care professionals are continued to be respected in the same way as they are now. I found myself before saying that I was just working in a supermarket or only working as a check out girl, when people inquired about my profession.

Admittedly, it wasn’t the job I had envisioned myself doing after obtaining my Bachelor’s degree, but the truth is I thoroughly enjoy it and don’t know what else I want to do right now. I work hard so what’s the harm in working in a job that’s deemed as unskilled? Also, I would like to say you’re welcome to Angela Merkel, who thanked all supermarket workers for their help during this time; It’s my pleasure, Mutti.

And, of course, the biggest thanks go to those who are actually saving lives. Those in hospitals, fighting this war with science and compassion, with bravery and intellect, with physical and mental strength. They deserve all the recognition and support they receive. It wasn’t until this pandemic that student nurses in the Republic of Ireland were paid for their work. It is disgraceful that it took a crisis of this magnitude for their resilience to be rewarded but it should remain a permanent measure from now on. It will forever be incomprehensible to those who do not witness what they endure, to understand the extent of their sacrifices for our benefit. Staying at home isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity. Not only to protect us, but those who are the most vulnerable and those who are the most valuable.

The only time the severity of the situation really strikes me is when I am travelling through Alexanderplatz, one of the busiest places in Berlin. To see it completely empty stirs an eery and unsettling feeling. Then, suddenly, a bright orange jacket on a bicycle will cut through the deserted plaza. These are the delivery men and women feeding the city in lockdown. I salute them. In the mornings I see construction sites on the outskirts of the square with people working day in and day out. They wear the same colour orange, head to toe. It’s the same colour orange as the rubbish bins dotted along the streets of Berlin. These streets are still being swept. The train stations are still being cleaned and monitored. The trains are still running, and not by magic. These are only some of the few jobs that I see on my 30-minute commute. All these people deserve respect for making our communities liveable and safe, whether there is a health crisis or not. Let us continue to value them when all this madness passes.

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

Shamelessly lazy

By Carolina

How did you spend your time during the Corona crisis? This is going to be a big question in the future. Whether it’s asked compassionately or judgmentally is important. If there’s one thing that is deeply rooted in many of us, it’s the feeling that we haven’t done enough. Millennials grew up with a lie - having a bachelor’s degree is the solution for a better life. We are twice as educated as our parents, yet we still need their financial support. We even monetised our hobbies! Eventually every bit of our living has become profit oriented, yet we feel inadequate. So during this crisis, it’s time to remember that doing nothing is normal.

We are bombarded with “how to’s” and the pressure of using this time productively is increasing. None of this hints at empathy. Charlotte Lieberman explained in The New York Times that procrastination is a result of negative emotions. The article was written before the lockdown, but it is relevant now more than ever. Unless we are Jeff Bezos, who profits from the crisis, we experience great stress. I feel that even losing my job is a privileged problem, compared with what others are dealing with. Thus, I made my choice - this time, I’m not going to be productive. Being lazy is my way of coping with it. I used this time to talk with my friends, all of whom shared two phasesweeks of being extremely productive or shamefully lazy, but are they really lazy? There is a fixed idea of what productivity entails. Reading books, practising a hobby and exercising. Doing one of the three or not doing them consistently, is not enough. But the superhumans that we see on our screens are not real. As a result, this pressure is not just applied from us to ourselves, but also to our peers. We are judging our friends, as a reflective frustration. Somebody should be perfect and if not ourselves or those who surrounds us, then who?!

Now is not the time for faster, smarter, stronger. We have followed the advice from the market for too long and now it’s time for a break. We were frustrated before the crisis, because of the lack of success from their recipe. Not following it now might be more rewarding.

What about cooking, going for walks and talking with friends? We underestimated these activities throughout the years, since happiness is measured from success and money, rather than inner peace and happy relationships. My point is that there is a feeling that we forgot how to be human. My friends are amazing people, who accomplished a lot within a few years. Nonetheless they are haunted by guilt, as we all are, when faced with the modern day ‘sin’ of doing nothing.

It’s time for reevaluation of many aspects of our lives, and productivity should be one of them. There is no big or small problem in this crisis. Each other’s ways of coping with it should stand without judgement. The main goal should be trying to stay sane. Hence, it doesn’t matter if I was productive during this time. Being shamelessly lazy gave me something much greater, being kinder to myself and those around me.

of success from their recipe. Not following it now, might be more

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

Lockdown - is it not enough to just get through it?

An interview with Pops Roberts, producer, vocalist and DJ on her thoughts on creativity and productiity during lockdown.

Lockdown - is it not enough to just get through it?

I interviewed Pops Roberts, producer, vocalist and DJ on her thoughts on creativity and productivity during lockdown.

The UK’s economy is restarting, and with it shops, bars and restaurants are reopening. Service industries are welcoming customers for the first time since March, and we all begin to re-join friends and colleagues. However - nothing is quite the same as we enter the “new normal”. And although our beloved vendors are reopening, with it comes the newly relaxed rules of one-meter social distancing. We accessorise with masks and gloves, and bumble on with our interpretations of what it means to “stay alert”.

Pops and I reflect, at this pivotal moment, on our experiences of lockdown and our journey through the unimaginable. The steps we have taken from closure to now, and how we had momentarily redefined our purpose away from the UK’s obsession with productivity. This was

what a lack of freedom was going to look and feel like – whether it would be military on streets, rationing etc. or not... it was hard to picture it at the time with so much misinformation.”

As the lockdown rules to ‘stay home, save lives’ was enforce on the UK - COVID had officially rid us of our daily routines, our jobs and any chances of socialising. It was fascinating to witness my own, and others’, instinctive reaction to this huge shift in routine. We scrubbed our houses spotless, re-joined the job search, cleared out our clothes and launched into intensive fitness regimes. Future concepts began to be rustled up by the business savvy, while social media accounts rose to attention with claims of “secrets to productivity at home”; and all the while publications such as The Times were curating material with “The lockdown status symbol: abs” as its headline. Naturally, the pit of anxiety began to circulate amongst my friends that we were not utilising the global standstill effectively.

Pops describes a “culture of honesty amongst friends”. I received texts that ranged from the anxious “I haven’t done any job stuff [seeking] for ages. All I want to do is just lie in the garden” to the self-deprecating “I cannot stop eating. I kind of enjoy it. A time to pig out with an excuse”.

Pops: “most of us have realised how busy our lives were before this - it’s hard to be expected to go from 100 to 0 overnight. There isn’t direct pressure, but I think it’s a little like when you clear a day off to do something: sometimes I think we can intimidate ourselves with this expectation, and on days like this I’ve barely written anything until I stopped trying to. So, if lockdown is a larger scale version of this, and all your friends are saying “I bet you’re writing loads of music” etc. I can see why a pressure could be perceived.”

The urge to overachieve, even in times of global crisis, is reflective of Britain’s always on-work culture. The direct and wicked humour of our beloved memes only ring true, one stating that “lockdown is the closest thing most millennials will get to retirement”. The concept of the hustle has always been a convincing pressure, an emotional bully where our self-worth is often reduced to our productivity. Anne Helen Peterson describes us as the “Burnout Generation”, where our lives are an endless “to-do-list”. Insert then the rapid decline from this to a

historical change in behavioural patterns with the introduction of isolation, and social distancing. Certainly, it doesn’t help when The Times encourages harmful doses of venomous media, which distort our perception of what lockdown should look like; shaming its readers into perceived failure if they’re not gearing up towards a “corona six- pack”. Consumerism hasn’t become obsolete, but instead moved with the times - the abominable monster has replaced the clothing season’s normal focus with overpriced tracksuits.

Pops: “However, I’ve also felt like there’s a been a real culture of honesty amongst my friends that create – no one I’ve seen is trying to make their lockdown look better than it is, people seem to be more mindful in general…so I’ve not felt any pressure from anyone other than from myself when I’ve binged too much on films. It’s important to remember that this isn’t some sabbatical for us –yes, it’s a time of confinement and less daily distractions, but there’s something fragile and heart- breaking going on around us and we can’t expect to feel inspired or super proactive with all this uncertainty about. Yes, SOME people may come out with albums of material, but it’s more important we ALL come out of this as mentally sound and healthy as we can – if chilling achieves this just chill”.

For many, creativity began to replace productivity. We put the hoovers down, held tightly onto to the few clothes we hadn’t chucked out, and finally came to the assumption that spending each day searching for work in an economic collapse was borderline insane. And as the coronavirus brought life largely indoors, we found ourselves with little distraction from oneself. As Pops says, “being isolated or locked down in any way is only ever going to go according to how our minds’ handle it.” And inevitably “a time for a lot of thinking (whether we want to or not)”, and this self-reflection naturally needed an outlet of some form, to make it constructive. Hobbies may seem trivial to us in a society where we are valued by our use in making money for others; but actually, it has been remarkable to see a return of people’s genuine interests and authenticity of self. Small business began to sprout with meaningful ambition, and live streams from creatives and collective action has been forwarded with mass social movements.

Pops: “My own personal lockdown, in these four walls, has been positive – I’ve had time to rethink about the person I am, how I buy food, my consumption and the services that truly are the backbone of life as we know it – it’s a wakeup call we didn’t know we needed and didn’t have time to see. I’ve been reading again and realised how important reading is for you mentally – your internal monologue, how you write, how you see the world and of course stimulating your imagination in general.”

As long as I have known Pops she has been involved in various creative projects in Manchester. During the lockdown she held a live stream from Wilderness Record Store; a two-piece rendition of her band Love Scene for viewers to watch at home. In that blissful moment watching Love Scene, I felt a calming sense of togetherness, sparked by the passion from two band members. We both agreed the online world has, for the most part, been an essential mode of connectivity and inspiration during a time of isolation.

Pops: “When you’re singing to your own phone on a stand, it doesn’t give you an idea of how it will be taken on the other side of the lens...I was really pleased people connected with it, and that there were some happy tears from people that we knew and some we didn’t. Once it had aired, I had messages to confirm this was much needed by staff and regulars alike. We had some overwhelmingly beautiful messages – both in the comments section and in my inbox over the couple of days after.”

In so many ways, COVID is something of a process of grief. Within the space of the first mention of the virus, to the weeks that followed thereafter, everything we know and love has dramatically readjusted. As we pave the way to reinventing the “new normal” we must all seek to find how better to tackle our futures. The need for lockdown, Poppy says is “appalling if you think about it”. Really, “nothing like this has happened internationally in my or most of our parents’ lifetimes. To see politicians that you have no faith in, make huge, life/death decisions is absolutely nail-biting, and to hear about terrible conditions and losses for some people is of course deeply negative.”

We are not in competition for productivity; global catastrophes change the world, and this pandemic is very much akin to a major war. This in itself is an incredible thing to process. There’s no shame in coping quietly, and let me tell you - it is more than enough to just get through it. As we go through a transition of rebirth for the UK, and we find ourselves questioning our involvement in a flawed political system, a bit of peace, quite frankly, is deserved. There is much more to see from the creative culture born from this pandemic. As for Pops and creatives across the UK - “I guess in a way I felt it was important to somehow say hi to everyone and make it feel more like “to be continued” rather than “game over””.

You can check out Pops’ band Love Scene and other live streams through their social media:

IG: @p_ro_jones

@love__scene

Facebook: @lovescenehQ

Twitter: @love__scene

Hiker in Lockdown

On March 12th 2020 I had tickets to see a gig with friends in the evening, and no plan to change that. I even bought wine and snacks to have at my flat before heading to the concert together. Outside my flat, people had been buying toilet paper and pasta shelves were starting to look pretty empty, and I found it somewhat silly. Coronavirus was all over Italy, and was actually spreading pretty quickly in Germany by then, but I felt safe in my bubble at home. I’ve always been a somewhat frantic hand-washer anyway, I have a good immune system and SURELY the world would not end. But that afternoon I began to understand what was really happening. Around 3pm the gig was cancelled. My friend I’d bought tickets with was afraid to come across town to hang out, saying the exposure would be too risky. And that’s when it really hit me that what was happening was very serious, and my actions would be important not only for my own health, but that of others. So I cancelled my planned birthday party the next day, and, in full socially responsible pride and camaraderie, took to the couch. Stay the fuck home seemed the safest and smartest plan of action, and stay the fuck home I did.

Since then, I’ve been going through every wave of the Covid emotional spectrum of a non-infected person in quarantine. I’m self-employed, so financial dread was never far away, along with pretty terrible self-esteem blows every time yet another job fell through or didn’t get back to me. I also started to meditate daily, I’m reading a lot more and am even really enjoying cooking and eating healthy foods and taking a break from sugar and alcohol. I hoover my apartment 3 times a day, scraped a fossilising shellac manicure off my nails, sleep 9 hours a night (no naps!), am watching about 3 Netflix series… and still, I’ve been going crazy indoors. I’m an outdoorsy person and my weekends are normally spent hiking or leading group

hikes, and I was hoping to train for an Alpine hiking trip in June all spring. Instead, the trip is cancelled, and my new hiking boots I bought in February are collecting dust in my apartment. Instead of focussing on all the things I can’t do right now, like travel or plan pretty much anything in the future, I’m trying to pull my attention to what I can do, and what I already have. And thankfully, even throughout the lockdown in Germany people were consistent allowed to spend recreational time outdoors. This was my absolute saving grace over the last weeks of accepting this new reality. Going outdoors every day in some small way, breathing in fresh air. Noticing the changes in plants as spring arrived, leaves on the trees, ever-longer days and return of birdsong. Finally (FINALLY) warmer weather, less layers, wearing a different coat after 6 months in a 9-year old down puffer jacket. These external observances are a very welcome distraction from the hot mess inside my head and allow me to ground myself back to actual reality. I’m alright. I’m here and now and I’m healthy, and actually nothing is that wrong at all.

A lot of the longer hikes I’ve discovered around Berlin have been made accessible to me by public transport, which means I’ve had to be a bit more creative in my routes since the pandemic. So I’ve discovered: MY BIKE! The public transport system is so good in Berlin (and I am so lazy) that I’ve left my bike pretty much parked all winter, but spring is here baby, and it’s time to shine. I’ve been going on longer bike rides for exercise now, something I’ve never done before. I’ve cycled from Kreuzberg to Müggelsee and back four times in 6 weeks, which to those not familiar, is about as far as from your house to mid-northern Siberia. It is very, very far. We cycled, pretty slowly to be fair, for about 3.5 hours in total, mostly in lovely sunshine and with some wind to push against, took 2 breaks and made it home sort-of in one piece. And it felt soooo good. Back at home I was finally actually happy to sit on my couch again. I felt some real mental relief for having exercised my body, and so happy to finally have my regular post-hiking pink cheeks (read: beet red wind- burned face) back. And so long as I am allowed and it’s safe to do so, I will keep getting fresh air as part of my self-care programme during self-isolation, and do whatever I can to help remind people to get their daily sniff of fresh air and stress relief while they can.

Alexandra Koken is the founder of Fresh Air Pink Cheeks. You can read her blog on FreshAirPinkCheeks.com and follow her adventures on Instagram @freshairpinkcheeks

COVID AIRPLANE NIGHTMARE

My fiancée Swantje (a German national) and I (James, a British national) meticulously planned a grandiose tour of four Buddhist countries, travelling for a total of four months. We set off for Northern Thailand before touring the great frontiers of Myanmar from Mandalay in the North across to the ancient city of Old Bagan, then on to the spectacular natural wonders of Inle Lake, down to the Jurassic landscapes in the south of Hpa An and Mawlamyine before finishing in the vibrant bustle of Yangon.

It was here that we were planning to kill some time by a pool at the end of a rewarding but gruelling trip around Myanmar. Travelling here is often slow and tiresome, but the unique culture and charming locals make the journey totally worthwhile. From Yangon we had a flight booked via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Colombo, Sri Lanka. However, in light of recent global events and the unprecedented spread of the pandemic, travelling suddenly became problematic. It wasn’t until a few days after the British government had issued a no travel warning that I received notification of a flight change from the 22nd to the 23rd of March. Then, as Malaysia took stringent measures to lock their borders, an email arrived confirming the dreaded flight cancellation.

Initially we were considering heading back to the islands of Thailand to wait it out for a month or two but, as things took a daily turn for the worse, we realised our clearest path was to get back into Thailand, opening up many more options to fly back to Europe. We caught wind on the 21st that Thailand were tightening border control, and everyone needed medical approval that they were fit and healthy in order to fly. After booking our flight for the morning of the 23rd March, we sought out a hospital on the 22nd where a medical professional conducted a basic health test and wrote us a certification saying we had no Covid-19 symptoms and that we were in good health.

That evening whilst sleeping we received an email saying our flights from Yangon to Bangkok had changed from the morning to the evening on the 23rd , so we sat out the day at the hotel and arrived at the airport for our flight to Bangkok. Alas, we were greeted at the airport by a hundred or so travellers in dismay - they were being

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

denied entry to the flight. Apparently, that day at 4pm Thailand had further restricted entry, and the Thai government stated that foreigners were only granted entry if they carried an official Covid-free test certificate within a 72-hour time span of travelling.

We immediately requested more information only to be told that in Yangon they would only test for Covid if one was to show symptoms of the illness, and that this would also lead to a 14-day quarantine period. Essentially because of the change in flight time we were now rendered unable to travel and yet another country had closed which had previously offered a route back. We met many other travellers who shared similar concerns - an older lady trying to get back to Australia was certainly going to be stuck in Myanmar for an indefinite amount of time. To further pile pressure upon our situation, our visas were due to expire the following day also which added to the air of uncertainty.

We met an English couple who had both Emirates flights via Dubai and Cathay Pacific flights via Hong Kong cancelled on them. Suffice to say many people were scrambling to book flight after flight, simply haemorrhaging money trying to somehow find a safe passage back to Europe. Everyone was left severely out of pocket, with the flights being cancelled and airline refund policies ranging anywhere between 30 and 60 day periods.

Seemingly all routes out of Myanmar were blocked - China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Malaysia were all impossibilities. The genuine anxiety of being trapped in a foreign world country with an expired visa for an indefinite amount of time was the stuff of nightmares and, above all else, one would not want to become ill there. After some time connecting with various people from other parts of Europe and British nationals, there was a shared unity amongst people in similar situations.

Through togetherness there was an emerging sense of having strength in numbers. I was already documenting occurrences that evening on a video, which I would launch the following day via an urgent SOS appeal on Twitter. Earlier in the day I had tried contacting the British Embassy in Yangon, calling five numbers I had found

Image by Muriel @muriel.mcintyre.fineart

online - four of them did not work and the fifth just rang and rang. No help at all. Upon meeting another British man, he told me that he had been down to seek general help and advice earlier in the day only to be turned away at the door by a Burmese security guard with a business card and phone number which offered no help whatsoever.

I was ready to go big with this, as one must do with a balanced mind and the greatest of intent.

I gathered a troupe of various stranded Europeans and we returned back to the Grand Garden hotel for another night. After some deep searching on Skyscanner and having been given some inside information from one of the other travellers, I was well informed that there would be a flight leaving on the morning of the 25th March with Qatar airways, leaving Yangon and flying to Doha, followed by a connecting flight onwards to London Heathrow, where I would be two steps closer to seeking refuge at my Fiancees’ family home in North Germany. It was a last gasp attempt at fleeing Myanmar. What had, at one point, been the trip of a lifetime, had somehow spiralled into a scenario of chaos and strife.

I sat in the doorway of the Grand Garden Hotel, taking deep inhalations on a traditional Burmese cheroot. I had kicked smoking four years prior deep into the throws of an ayahuasca trip in the Amazon rainforest but, after the day I’d had, if ever there was a time to smoke again this was it. I carefully inputted the route on my Mac, the dates, 2 people and the algorithms went to work - $4600. Yangon to London Heathrow. Economy class. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and gazed in dismay that a flight could cost this much. I had to make the decision with conviction and looked beyond the monetary figure. Money isn’t actually a tangible thing, it is only a means to make things happen, and this had to happen.

In a few clicks the flight was booked, but I was still feeling hugely tentative regarding its departure. I had two nights and a full day before the flight left. I would still become proactive and see what the British Embassy planned to do with the hundreds of Britons stranded there - I needed a backup plan if this flight got cancelled. If that were the case, and I was out of pocket by the four thousand or so I had just committed to the flights, that would add a further level of instability

Image by Muriel @muriel.mcintyre.fineart

to our predicament with the potential financial implications of being stuck there with severely limited funds with which to survive. The following day I launched an urgent twitter appeal through media channels and the embassy. Within the course of the day I had interviews arranged with the BBC and with Sky News should anything happen to the flights the following morning. That evening I had a call from the ambassador at the British Embassy in Yangon, he was articulate but really unable to offer much assistance at that time. He suggested setting up an email chain to keep me informed of potential routes out and I questioned why a jet could not be sent for British nationals for a direct flight back.

Long range jets are more than capable of running that route - I myself had flown on 13 hour flights several times direct from Europe to Asia. He told me that would be a long way off if it were to happen at all, and I questioned why when everyone would be more than happy to pay a fair sum of money for the flight? Profit could even be made from it, but he seemed to think the logistics of organising it were to prove too complicated. I was aware other embassies such as the Swiss embassy had a representative at the airport and knew exactly how many Swiss nationals were in Myanmar at that time, and that the French, Belgians and Germans were all well into discussions about organising private flights back and sending jets themselves. Unfortunately, British representatives had let the side down and effectively abandoned us in our time of need. I will forever remember the rather condescending line he dropped in the conversation, which for me rather defined their overall lack of compliance to aid the situation, as he told me “It’s not the apocalypse yet, is it?” I remained quiet.

The flight left the next day and we were on our way, one step closer to home. Our end destination had to be North Germany as our families were in Spain and Germany respectively and with Spain in complete lockdown. Germany was our only option.

As we were planning on travelling for a while, we had no home or anywhere to stay in England, especially on the verge of complete lockdown and with cases in London mushrooming, we really did not want to be stuck there.

When we arrived in Doha we searched for flights from London to Germany and managed to book a BA flight to Hamburg the following

afternoon, another £659 for two flights. Ok, whatever - it’s only money, right?

With Bloody Marys, Cava and a rather sumptuous Chilean red to keep us company - the flight from Doha to Heathrow sailed by and we were back on British soil. After the hit we had taken on the flights we were more than determined to squeeze every bit of value out of them as possible.

Just one night to camp out the airport and the following day we could relax at home. As we set up a makeshift bed on the floor of Terminal 5 for the evening, Swantje decided to check-in for our flights so we were prepared the following day. However, there were some restrictions when checking-in stating that non-German passport holders were unable to board this flight...

We started to read online, and discovered that within the previous days Germany had also tightened border restrictions for non-German nationals and the flight was almost completely restricted to those returning home. Besides being engaged to be married in July there were no ties to Germany or any urgent reasons for travel when UK government warnings were for no overseas travel to take place.

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

This was all we needed after the events of the past few days, and I suddenly had visions of being stuck in England with my family overseas. We started making calls to the British embassy, the German embassy and Hamburg police trying to look for any avenues which could give us some sort of assurance or possibilities to increase my chances of getting through. Swantje spoke to Hamburg police and talked to a very calm and reassuring officer - he seemed to think it would be OK, but said he would speak to his superior and get back to her. Sometime later she received an email with a deep apology stating that from a government perspective I would not be permitted into the country. The German embassy in England stated more or less the same and they said it would be at the discretion of the border officer but ,if they were to closely follow the restrictions, without a very valid reason for travel entry would be denied and deportation would be a distinct possibility.

We slept the night in Terminal 5 on the hard floor after 25 hours in transit. The sleep was intermittently wracked with a deep sense of worry about how the following day would unfold. At 5am there was movement at the check-in counters and we tentatively approached desk as normal.

We handed over our passports to the lady on the desk and she scanned my passport along the reader sliding it several times looking puzzled. She made a phone call and another member of staff came over to the desk and explained there were some restrictions with Covid and asked my reasons for travelling to Germany. I explained it was my family home and we have pre-wedding planning meetings this seemed to meet her approval and after 5 minutes or so the lady overseeing the check-in clerk was telling her to override the warnings and issue a boarding pass.

We placed our bags on the conveyor belt and were another step closer to our return.

11 hours or so later we disembarked the airplane exhausted and hopeful. We approached and stood in the immigration line only to realise that we would be dealing with a rather stern looking middle aged lady. I ushered Swantje to the left side where three male police immigration officials sat at the desks. The one that became free was a figure of a man who resembled Lurch from The Addams Family. As I handed him my passport he looked intensely at it and glanced up, making direct eye contact, before asking in a guttural German

voice “Vot do you vont here in Germany?” I tried explaining that I was with my fiancée and we planned to get married, he looked beyond me and motioned for Swantje to step forward.

It transpired he didn’t really understand my garbled English, but she approached him conversationally in a direct and stern manner telling him about our plans and our meetings with the civil office. He pondered for some time before reluctantly handing our passports back. And just like that we were through. We had made it against all the odds and, seemingly, something was shining bright for us guiding us back home.

Onwards to the haven of the North Sea coast and the last stop on the map, the town of Wilhelmshaven where the intention is to lay low until this chaos blows over.

By James @only_connecting

Cyber security

~By Nina~

There is a term in the cyber security field, called FUD. It stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The old school cyber security leaders use it to gain budget for their initiatives. Can we say those three words describe the current situation in the society, concerning Coronavirus?

Of course, but I’m not a doctor. It’s difficult for me to ascertain which of the news on Coronavirus is fear. There is a good example related to it, though.

There is a theory that Coronavirus was released to cover up the harmful effect of 5G on people’s health. On the internet, you can find the news about 5G towers being burned down because of someone spreading fear. It stands straight in contrast to the scientific evidence. If you stand a couple of metres away from a 5G-based tower, the amount of radiation you get is near to what you get from your hairdryer. Facts beat the unfounded claims, such as the virus is part of a misinformation campaign. I don’t think it is. Still, some people choose to associate Coronavirus with 5G.

Can we say that nowadays, when people have fear, uncertainty, and doubt because of the virus, hackers and scammers are more active than ever?

They are active all the time. I wouldn’t say that now more than before. Hackers are very goal-oriented people. They don’t stop before getting what they came for, and they adjust their methods to the circum-

Image by Carolina and Claire

An interview with a Chief Cyber Security Officer of a multinational technology company, producing telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics.

stances fluidly. It just so happens that nowadays it is easier to get something from people than from machines. In 80% of the cases, the hacking starts with manipulating people to do something.

Like what?

Like installing something or clicking on some link, which will make your computer download some software. For example, if you get disconnected now, and you get a small pop-up window saying: “To get connected again, please enter your password.” This window will look precisely like a typical password prompt you see from time to time. What would you do?

If it happened right now while we talk, I would rush to restore the closed programme, so I would click yes.

In one of my previous companies, where I led cyber security business, I carried out a range of penetration tests. One of them was displaying pop-up windows on the employees’ computers and asking for their passwords.

Almost everyone closed that window the first time. A smaller group of people cancelled when we showed it for the second time. And everyone who saw the window for the third time provided their passwords. These simple tricks are highly effective. And in times of Coronavirus, when people are actively searching for information, they are vulnerable and genuinely worried about themselves or their families and friends. So sending a fake email from the World Health Organization would work well for a hacker now. I think it was Google that recently discovered that, on average, 19 million COVID-related publishing emails are sent every day.

Can you say that even now, when the whole world is in crisis, hackers are looking to profit from us?

We are speaking about criminals. Initially, a hacker was someone with a deep understanding of technology who was able to hack computers without evil purposes. At some point, the media picked up that being a hacker makes you a criminal. But there may be two sides to it. Criminals do take advantage of everything. If we take ransomware, it

could be encrypting your disk and asking you to pay some money to decrypt it. A hospital during the pandemic makes an attractive target because they are very likely to pay quickly.

If we talk about ordinary people, who have to work from home, are they also a target now?

People who just switched to the home office may potentially be in danger because they and their companies are not dually prepared for the change. In the office, most of the corporate computer networks are secured to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of data. All the internet traffic gets filtered through internal firewalls, which prevent employees from opening potentially harmful websites and also blocks unauthorised access from outside. So the companies must create equally strong network protection for working from home. If it’s not done correctly, there is a higher risk of a malicious intrusion. In the last months, a lot of businesses had to switch to remote for the first time and do it quickly, which can lead to mistakes.

A cyber criminal, passing by a vulnerable network or a device would typically take a chance to get in to see what’s inside, and then think of ways to monetise the obtained information. Unfortunately, an anti-virus may not be enough to protect your computer from hackers when you are outside of the corporate network. When you work from home, with your device not adequately configured, there is a lot more room for mistakes. It might not be your fault, and you might not be willingly doing anything wrong.

Can we say that in the current situation, every company that lets people work from home should prepare them technically to keep the corporate infrastructure safe? Like giving them some simple briefing, an instruction. Should it ideally have been done?

Ideally, yes. And this is a part of the company’s job. Not only to ensure cyber protection technically but also to teach the employees to use the given tools and to behave responsibly online. Imagine, if a tiger walks to you, you will probably either run away or pretend to be dead, or maybe try to attack the tiger. Those reactions are instinctive, as a result of thousands of years of evolution. The internet and com-

Image by Carolina

puters have been around us for only dozens of years. Humans have not had not enough time to develop intuitive reactions to computer threats. You learn either from your own mistakes or because someone taught you.

Could you give some essential tips for ordinary people to stay safe from cyber threats these days?

Be increasingly careful what you do on the internet. Do not provide your passwords too quickly, even when asked repeatedly. There are a limited number of people and institutions or programs which are authorized to ask you for your password. Second, don’t be too quick with clicking links you are getting. Many of them are a kind of invitation, but you can’t tell what is behind them. Remember that if it is your company device, you should only use it for work. In a corporate environment, some of the mistakes can be prevented or corrected for you. But if you are remote, you may have more freedom and more risk in the absence of full traffic filtering. So try to separate your professional life from your private life up to a degree when using different devices. It’s not that difficult. Just remember that 80% of security incidents happen as a result of psychological manipulation.

Image by Henri Rousseau

Not in Service

by Patrick

Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, the UK government have perpetuated a state of fear and confusion among the populous so strong that many more people are starting to question their motives, as well as their capabilities. It’s worrying and laughable in almost equal measures. The actions taken by those in power seem regularly to contravene the best evidence of what works to combat the virus – that which has already taken place in other countries.

While the world watched as Northern Italy suffered crazy infection and death rates, the UK seemed to sit back and relax. In fact, many people were flying in from Italy, walking straight out of the airport and jumping on public transport. As other countries were locking down and quarantining, the UK held Cheltenham Racing Festival which hosts over a quarter of a million people over a weekend. At the same time, in Ireland, the national St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were cancelled. A moment that struck fear into many was the announcement that the PM, Boris Johnson, was in intensive care after contracting the virus. That was a moment of pure dystopian drama, that left a lot of us with the

feeling that the situation was genuinely severe. Thankfully he recovered after being given oxygen treatment in St. Thomas’ Hospital. Following that we had the resignation of the man whose predictions dictated the actions and beliefs of many people and institutions worldwide. If the UK population didn’t go into lockdown, the grim UK death toll churned out by Neil Ferguson’s pandemic model was 250,000. The man himself was then found to have broken his own advice at least twice as his girlfriend came over to visit.

As people across the country were forced to stay at home, businesses closed, and the UK saw a 70% increase in unemployment benefit claims. Those who managed to sustain their income were able to work remotely, or in ‘essential jobs’. We saw how many people could actually forgo commutes to the office and complete their tasks from home and communicate with colleagues via video chat. In the wake of this, the government, incredibly, saw fit to announce that they were forging ahead with the HS2 high speed rail service from London to Birmingham, at the cost of 100 billion pounds. It struck a resonant chord that they care more about their legacy than all the unemployed and suffering small business owners, now left frightened of both the virus and their economic future.

Germany, on the other hand, rolled out their economic subsidy plans with smooth efficacy and government funds were quickly distributed to those who needed them.

Further questions arose as to whether those at the top believed the science or the advice they themselves eschewed, as senior political aide / pantomime villain / Brexit mastermind Dominic Cummings was found to have broken lockdown to drive from London to Durham. From his parents’ estate he then drove some 50 miles to spend the day outside in the forest with his wife and child. This totally contravened the rules that he himself had set and lead to many feeling outrage that they’d followed the laws and those in charge had flouted them.

We were then treated to the absurd story that he was driving to the forest to test his eyesight to see if he was fit to drive back down to London… The subsequent defence of Cummings’s actions by the second most senior cabinet member, Michael Gove, live on LBC radio, was a stand out moment. He claimed that he had on a few occasions gone out to test his eye sight by driving his car with his wife. The total farce was complete.

The government stood by Cummings and defended his actions, whipping the media into a ten-day frenzy in which barely anything else was covered. We had four hour reports on TV of Dominic’s drive, while the country was left confused and exasperated as to what the actual situation was with the virus. What he did was undoubtedly irresponsible and offensive to those who followed the rules, but the media circus seemed nicely to cover up, momentarily, the huge problems going on in UK care homes, where death tolls were soaring. The media were at their usual games of witch hunting and creating division, while many people wanted answers to more practical questions of when they could expect to be back at work and back to socialising as normal.

There have also been fears of becoming an over-policed state, with the government controlling our movement and threatening stricter measures if faced with non-compliance from the public. We had the chief of police of Nottingham’s remarkable outburst that he was considering introducing roadblocks and allowing his police force to check anyone’s shopping as they headed home from the supermarket. This was met with enough dismay and derision that he quickly apologised, but it was a case in point that if we surrender too much power, harsh rules may quickly come into effect. People were again left confused, this time as to why the contents of their shopping bags was pertinent to keeping down the spread of the virus.

The government press briefings used to show UK death tolls vs other countries that were suffering worse numbers. As soon as our figures overtook the rest of Europe, the numbers in other countries were not mentioned in the conferences. This kind of blatant refusal to take responsibility, or to treat the public with any kind of respect, has been such a frequent tactic with this government that it has almost been normalised. The UK talks of second wave of the virus coming in Autumn, while other nations in Europe seemingly have it under control. Their government’s messages are generally positive and upbeat, and where they have made mistakes many of them have admitted it, notably in France, Sweden and even Norway where the numbers were really low.

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre

As Germany was easing lockdown, almost to the point of a return to normalcy, the UK government were floundering and delivering further perplexing promises. The declaration that they’d have a world beating ‘test and trace system’ in place by the 1 st June was just such a silly claim to make, when other countries had already used this method so effectively to contain the virus and the problems in the UK continued to spiral.

The government latest ploy is the NHS app which, once downloaded, will establish if you’ve been in close proximity with someone who has contracted the virus. If so, you and all of the infected person’s contacts will be alerted and asked to isolate at home or get tested. Other countries have already stated they will be bringing in a similar system, although they will adopt Apple / Google’s version. This leaves us with the mystery as to why the UK wants to use their own version, one that stores all the user data centrally, rendering it potentially accessible to the powers that be for whatever they may choose to use it for. Apple / Google’s app is said to be ‘decentralised’, meaning all the info stays on the individual’s device and therefore can’t be used (supposedly) for anything other than the prevention of the spread of the virus.

The contract for designing the app has been awarded to the same company who drove the ‘Leave’ campaign in the Brexit referendum. This campaign is now quite widely recognised to have been won with a lot of misinformation and targeted social media advertisements, which were successfully created through data harvesting. If enough people are too suspicious to download this new app, it won’t work properly in containing the virus. Apparently, we need 50% of the population to sign up, which equates to something like 80% of smartphone users. Based on the lack of trust in this government, and the feeling that many civil liberties have already been compromised, 80% seems like a tall order. Some people may simply choose the Apple / Google product, making the chances of success even lower.

The Government’s response to the pandemic has caused fear and confusion. The lack of clarity with regards to the specifics of the rules has baffled some people. Those that tried to follow them stringently have felt betrayed by the behaviour of those at the top, with Cummings’ failure to admit wrongdoing proving an iconic moment.

People have been left afraid to go outside for fear of catching the virus, and worried about their financial future.

Some have seen their small businesses, that took years to build, collapse. The government’s ineptitude and failure to take responsibility is not all that surprising given the cast at the helm. Now we are left with a looming sense of a second lockdown, and an App seemingly designed for data harvesting purposes. Meanwhile Boris and co. continue to pat themselves on the back, asserting that they’ve handled the crisis with aplomb...

Image by Claire @clairemmcintyre