Christophe Veltsos

University prof. on cyber risk & systemic risk | He/him | Posts/RTs lots on #Covid #LongCovid. Covid is sig. systemic risk. #COVIDisAirborne #MaskUp #IAQ #AirQ

[Scott Squires @scottsquires.bsky.social @scott_squires]

After 6 years why can’t we have saliva tests? Nose is hard for children. Or at least more sensitive and less expensive tests?

[Rachel Tobac @RachelTobac]

This type of breach, affecting 153 million individual's licenses, is going to have massive impacts on identity theft, specifically identity verification platform fraud (using front and back scans from this breach to "verify" as another person for financial services and more).

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

I retweeted this earlier today and received some hostile comments, so I thought I'd share a story.

The photo on the left shows Constable Sukhvinder Singh Sunger, a Canadian Sikh police officer who recently led the Vancouver Police Pipe Band at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The event is held at Edinburgh Castle, and it celebrates military bands from around the world. Thus, for the event, Constable Sunger wore traditional Highland dress with a ceremonial dastār (Sikh turban).

I think he looks resplendent for all the reasons I've mentioned in my previous threads: the use of "shape and drape," texture, and the semiotics of clothing.

But some were less enthused about a Canadian man of South Asian descent wearing Scottish clothing.

So I thought I'd share a story about Alexander Haughton Campbell Gardner, an adventurer and mercenary born in 1785 in what would become modern Wisconsin. By his own account, his father was Scottish, and his mother was Anglo-Spanish, although at least one of his contemporaries thought he was Irish. Either way, he would be considered "white" today.

At the age of 24, he traveled to Europe and, shortly after, began exploring Russia and Central Asia. It was in Central Asia, he claims, that he started to adopt the local customs and mores, often presenting himself as Muslim. Although one wonders how easily he was able to blend in, as he stood six feet tall and had a penchant for drinking.

According to him, he was captured in Afghanistan in 1824, but ended up joining a rebel force, commanding 180 horsemen, and marrying a local woman, with whom he fathered a child near Parwan. His wife and child were later killed after his patron's defeat, which drove him to Punjab.

It was in Punjab, he claims, where he joined the Sikh Army, eventually rising to the level of Colonel. He claims to have been present at Lahore, then the capital of the Sikh Empire, and says he killed 300 men during a fierce clash.

Much of Gardner's life is hard to verify, as many of his fantastical claims come from his much-contested memoir, which has little to no third-party corroboration. However, one thing is certain, if only because we have photographic evidence. Later in life, he had a striking style of self-presentation. In the photo on the right, you can see him in a tartan suit and Sikh turban. His facial hair is long because many Sikhs believe not cutting your hair shows respect for God's perfect creation.

Gardner was a man of American descent, European lineage, and Central/ South Asian cultural identity. He died with the name Gordana Khan. This complex form of diasporic identity goes back to 1785, shortly after the United States declared independence from Britain. In my opinion, it goes to show that culture is porous and identities can be complex, not as clear and "pure" as many would like to pretend.

[Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie]

Layoffs so far in 2026:

UPS - 30,000
Citigroup - 20,000
Amazon - 16,000
Meta - 9700
Microsoft - 5000
Dow - 4500
Cisco - 4000
Verizon - 3000
Morgan Stanley - 2500

It’s the large corporations looking to squeeze every dollar into profit, who don’t want people to work anymore.

[Snowdrop ꨄ︎ @DrOp_SnOw_No1]

I bet you laugh when the chorus kick in 🤣😭

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

@kananaskinyeti I think you're trolling us now. 🤣

[The Yeti of Kananaskis @kananaskinyeti]

This one is more accurate

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

@ipattorneyliza Or maybe it's a polyglot. 🤣

Dang, I didn't know that were regional donkeys, like the Provence one. 🤯

[Billy Thalheimer @billythalheimer]

Aaaand we have video!
https://t.co/dHRa1ek8RZ

[Billy Thalheimer @billythalheimer]

Today marks the start of the Seaglider era - WE FLEW!!

Our 15,000 lb, human-crewed Viceroy Seaglider prototype took flight today. Years of hard work culminating in this moment.

Flight was smooth and exactly as planned.

So proud of this team.

More details to come!

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

@ChristianerLes @CovidDataReport Yep, and in some place your stretcher might get parked in the hallway for hours at a time when the region deals with a "surge" that nobody wanted to prepare for, to warn about, or to protect against. 😵‍💫

[Data Report @CovidDataReport]

It is getting to the point where, if you leave the house Covid could get you, then measles at the grocery store, followed by your cart full of groceries getting recalled. On the way home, someone with Covid brain damage could crash into you. Did I miss anything?

[Billy Hanlon @bhanlon15]

Nature: 'When do infections lead to long COVID? Scientists close in on triggers and treatments for post-viral syndromes'

'Hundreds of millions of people have long-term conditions as a result of an infection. Researchers are working out how to help them.'

https://t.co/QrkD95lkRM

[Dr. Catharine Young @DrCatharineY]

Vaccines are undoubtedly one of the greatest public-health interventions in history.

Key U.S. vaccine milestones:

Diphtheria and pertussis: routine vaccination during the 1930s–40s
Polio: 1955
Measles: 1963
Mumps: 1967
Rubella: 1969
Combined MMR vaccine: 1971

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

@michael_hoerger Congrats, Mike. 🎉

[Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA @michael_hoerger]

In March, I applied for a 5-yr internal position to elevate the discussion of COVlD prevention, Long COVlD, and the challenges patients and families face dealing with chronic and serious illness. Happy to begin!

Links in next, and photo used was pre-pandemic, obviously.

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

@verygoodchat I hope you get power back soon. Temps are not quite low enough to be in the zone called "oh for sure go ahead and experience life without A/C for hours."

Then again temps rn are well above 0F, so 🎉🤣

[Christophe Veltsos @DrInfoSec]

Here's a threaded version of the 🎯 posts below (original🧵is just below this post), for easier reading or for sharing beyond this platform:
https://t.co/pnYAY5YXH9

[Dr. Robert Rohde @RARohde]

Let's talk about the weather and climate changes that proceeded the Nepali glacier collapse.

It's well known that Nepal is warming, but we can do better and estimate the changes at the 5200m elevation site where the mass of ice and rock ultimately broke loose.

A thread. 🧵

[The Yeti of Kananaskis @kananaskinyeti]

No good choices

[ThePOTSPostman @ThePOTSPostman]

“How are you feeling?” is a such a loaded question with chronic illness.

Ask at 9 AM, noon, and 5 PM and you might get three completely different answers.