The Ilocos Times

By Noralyn Dudt About three weeks ago on Dec. 15 th , 2022, I lost my bragging rights on board the Viking Jupiter along the coast of Puerto Montt in Chile. That was my 15 th day on the cruise and I tested positive for the coronavirus, finally.   I was asymptomatic (no symptoms) so, of course it came as a surprise. I would have never known had it not for   the Viking protocol to conduct PCR tests on   all 900 passengers and 400 crew members every morning. For two years I have been sort of bragging with "humility"   that the corona would never be able to get past my immune system. I have been healthy, didn't have underlying conditions and best of all I have had the two doses of the mRNA   vaccines plus the three boosters for the variants. Additionally, I have been wearing a mask in crowded and closed-in places. I was very sure that I was forever shielded from the virus and why shouldn't I have been entitled to some bragging rights? Those bragging   rights I lost, bu

By Noralyn Dudt In one of the first recorded Bitcoin transactions in 2010, a hungry computer geek in Florida spent 10,000 of the cryptocurrency on a couple of takeaway pizzas. By late 2017, the cost of those pizzas at Bitcoin's then market price was close to US$200 million. Not too long after that, the leading crypto's market value surpassed many of the world's largest companies, including Boeing, Toyota and McDonald's. Unbelievable? Such a vast sum, yes   for little value. Was it real ? Yes it was... but it didn't last long because it was just a bubble floating in the air. As with many other "bubbles" in the past this bubble also burst. Surely investors'   initial giddiness and excitement was soon wiped out when they realized that   their money was gone. But how can one explain   such irrational and irresponsible thinking—that investing a dollar in something "in the air" would yield a million times in such a short time?   It has to be