If you're using a Mac, check out AppleScript. A single AppleScript can send commands to multiple apps, telling the apps to get or set data, or to do other commands such as opening a window. An AppleScript can get data from one app, and send the data to another app.

For example, you can write an AppleScript that tells a Numbers spreadsheet to return selected data in the spreadsheet to the AppleScript. Then the AppleScript sends that spreadsheet data to Safari, and tells Safari to run a certain JavaScript in the frontmost Safari window. That JavaScript then executes, and displays the spreadsheet data in the Safari window.

Not all apps can respond to the same AppleScript commands. The set of AppleScript commands that an app can do depends on how "scriptable" the app's author made the app.

Hopefully we'd need to cover way less than 2 million acres, if the drones cover new fires fast enough. And once a fire is out, the tarps can be reused. (Make sure the fire is out! We don't want any more Oakland Hills fires.)

My main concern is the range of drones. This article says the "ImmersionRC Vortex" drone has a speed of 60-70 MPH top speed (varies), and a range of 500 meters. Maybe an unmanned helicopter (with its longer range) could fly some drones and tarps to wherever a new fire has started.

Or just use unmanned helicopters, instead of helicopters dropping off drones. That would be more expensive, but simpler.

(I want the helicopters to be unmanned, to protect the pilots. Let the pilots control the helicopters remotely, from a safe location.)

Regarding the cost, hopefully some state or county governments would pay for it. Fire prevention is a lot cheaper than the cost of rebuilding after a fire.

Drones should be flying, checking for fires 24x7.

The goal is to extinguish fires fast, before they develop into firestorms.

"states ... were told they were on their own" - Trump didn't say that. He said, "We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself." He was telling the governors that it would be faster if they could get the equipment themselves, instead of going through the US government bureaucracy.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said, speaking of the relationship between Trump and him:

An New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo said:

We landed men on the moon 51 years ago. And with our technological advances since then, we still can't put out fires?

Hey Elon Musk, we need you. You like to solve problems, right? Here are three problems to solve:

1) How to put out fires,

2) how to keep smoke from getting into the atmosphere while the fire is still burning, and

3) after the fire is out, what do you do with the smoke that you've captured?

How about this solution for problems #1 and #2: Get a strong, non-flammable tarp 100 by 100 feet. Spray a foot of fire-retardant foam onto the tarp. (Spray it onto both sides, in case wind flips the tarp over to the other side.)

Using four drones (one for each corner of the tarp), drop the tarp onto the fire. Then make the drones shoot extra large nails out of a nail gun - through the tarp, into the ground, to hold the tarp in place. Then do the same with a second tarp on top of the fire, next to the first tarp. Then a third tarp, etc.

The tarps and foam would put out, or at least slow, the fire. And the tarps and foam would block part of the smoke, keeping the smoke out of the air.

I like this solution, although the shooting of large nails from drones sounds like a frightening weapon against people.

I miss the days when Apple/Jobs announced new and interesting things. Mac OS X, the first iMac, iPhone, iPad, etc.

Who knows what they'll announce on Sept. 15 - but if it's just iPhones with better specs, I'll be pretty disappointed.

"... leadership during the current crises." - This web page has a very long list of things that the Trump administration has done regarding COVID-19 - from Dec. 31, 2019 to April 24, 2020. Even though it covers less than four months, it lists a lot of actions.

Some of the "actions" in the list didn't help with COVID-19, like "February 7: President Trump told reporters that the CDC is working with China on the coronavirus." But some actions were helpful, like restricting entry to the US on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, which helped to slow the spread into the US.

I don't agree with everything Trump has done. For example, I wish he had started to wear a mask sooner. And I wish his tweets were more about what he's done, and less about how he doesn't like his opposition. But generally, I'm happy with his COVID-19 response.

Any medical people here - has your hospital or clinic treated patients with hydroxychloroquine and zinc? If so, then what were the results?

Here's something that's extinct for me: a good red Washington Delicious apple. Red Washington Delicious apples used to be bright red, crisp, and sweet. But now they're dark red, soft, and not so sweet. What happened?

They always seem a couple of weeks past their prime. I guess something changed, so that where I live, we get the old apples now.

According to Newsweek:

Why the difference in protecting others from me, vs. protecting me from others?

I have a question about masks. Does anyone know what materials can be used, for the filter part of a mask? Can any cloth be used, if it has a tight weave - for example, cut-up curtains or cloth towels? What about several layers of paper napkins, or several layers of paper towels?

An advantage of cloth is that it can be washed in hot water prior to use, in order to sanitize it.

An advantage of paper is that it's relatively cheap and plentiful, so it can be used and then discarded.

I'm wondering if doctors and nurses could remove the used filter part a mask, and replace it with a fresh, new filter that's made of common cloth or paper.

According to the LA Times,

I'm trying to imagine a professional baseball game without any fans there cheering. Just silence, except for the sound of the ball being hit, or the umpire calling a strike, or whatever. You hit a home run, and instead of thousands of people cheering, only your team members cheer.

I'm guessing it would be harder for the players to get all revved up, and take the game seriously.

According to this article, that practice is called "rebadging". From the article:

See this AP Article:

Float remote-controlled airships over areas that have to keep cool, such as over hospitals. Maybe use blimps, if they're the cheapest kind of airship to build.

For each blimp, position it (moving it during the day), so that it casts a shadow over the hospital. The shadow will help cool off the hospital. If there isn't too much wind, hang lightweight cloth from the bottom of blimp, to increase the area that gets shade.

You can't do this on a windy day, and you don't want blimps near an airport. But I think it's worth a try, to see if the shade that it provides cools off the buildings that get the shade.