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The security problems with voting from home platforms in public elections are almost insurmountable in the short term. Even if voter authentication and encryption were perfect> , we still have to worry about the following problems, for which there are no easy solutions: 1) Widespread virus infection of computers used for voting: The virus code could be silent until you vote; then it could prevent you from voting, or change your vote, and erase itself. Could be launched from anywhere in the world, even out of reach of U.S. law, e.g. Iraq. 2) Remote control attack: Sysadmins can use remote control software to spy on votes, or block them, or change them. 3) Automated peer-to-peer or centralized Internet vote selling / buying schemes: Think "votester". Again, can be launched or coordinated from anywhere. 4) Denial of service attack: Can disenfranchise voters in last hours of election. 5) Spoofing attack: Please click here to vote for the Green Party. 6) On-screen electioneering: Suppose your ISP presents political ads in your browser window right when you connect to a voting site. 7) Digital divide: Not all voters have equal access to the Internet. 8) Platform divide: All platforms that voters are likely to have must be supported equally. Not just PCs, but Macs (and Palms, ...). Not just Windows & MacOS, but Linux(!). Not just MSIE, but other browsers. Etc. These are among the reasons (there are several others!) why the California Secretary of State's study recommended not diving into home voting any time soon--at least until these problems are solved. Other national studies, e.g. the National Science Foundation study and the Caltech-M.I.T. study, concurred.

Uh, scuze me but most (if not all) states put the burden of paying sales tax on sellers, not buyers, and whether they are liable for a tax bill depends on the extent to which they do business in a given state.

If you purchase taxable merchandise from an out-of-state mail order business and no New Jersey sales tax is collected, you owe 6% use tax on the purchase price of the goods. Use tax is due within twenty days after the merchandise is delivered into New Jersey. Shipping charges separately listed on the bill are exempt from tax. NJ

Q. How are out-of-state purchases/sales taxed?
A. In Pennsylvania, the responsibility to pay Sales Tax is ultimately placed on the consumer. When a resident purchases a taxable item outside of Pennsylvania and does not pay Sales Tax at the time of purchase, the tax is then due to Pennsylvania in the form of Use Tax at the same 6 percent rate. The Use Tax is due and payable when the item is brought to or received in Pennsylvania, and it is up to the purchaser to remit the tax to the Department. Out of state sales are not subject to Pennsylvania Sales Tax when the item is shipped directly to an out of state location. PA Tax

(B) From Other States -- When Sales Tax Does Not Apply. Sales tax does not apply when the order is sent by the purchaser directly to the retailer at a point outside this state, or to an agent of the retailer in this state, and the property is shipped to the purchaser, pursuant to the contract of sale, from a point outside this state directly to the purchaser in this state, or to the retailer's agent in this state for delivery to the purchaser in this state, provided there is no participation whatever in the transaction by any local branch, office, outlet or other place of business of the retailer or by any agent of the retailer having any connection with such branch, office, outlet, or place of business. CA Tax [Note: in this case there is no tax]

Are sales over the Internet taxable? Sales made over the Internet are subject to the same sales tax application as mail order sales. If the seller is required to be registered to collect Maine Sales Tax, then the seller should collect the tax on the sale. If the seller is not required to be registered, then the seller is not required to collect tax on the sale. The purchaser, however, would still owe a Maine Use Tax, payable directly to Maine Revenue Services, based on the sale price of the goods. Most Maine taxpayers report this use tax liability on their Maine 1040. Maine Tax

Which one is it then?

Well, am I the only one who's bowels clench at the sound of this? Does this mean that e-mails that get routed through California-based servers will be subject to this? What about California residents who have mail servers in different states... their mail 'originates' in the sunny fascist state of CA, but it doesn't get stored there. How about California residents who send e-mail while outside of their home state.
I can only hope that a massive influx of hard, direct questions to the office of the Governor of California - Gray Davis(governor@governor.ca.gov) that this is unacceptable to the people of his constituency.
The /. crowd is fairly militant and reactionary over these issues, but I for one am going to try and do a little more than normal about this. Time to draft an e-mail to all my family members who live in California and see if I can get a few of them to take action on this.
It would also be grand if someone could post a link to (or transcript of) the governor's State of the State speech tonight.
If anyone else is aware of grassroot groups that are actively and positively working on raising the public's awareness to this kind of knee-jerk violation of our rights, please post applicable links here, and see what we can do to keep this getting any worse.

California law requires California law requires in-state repair capability. Otherwise, the retailer has to honor the warranty. The retailer always has warranty liability in California unless they put "AS-IS" or "WITH ALL FAULTS" on the product where you can see it before the sale, like used cars.

The decision also available here from the court itself said the lower court erred in not letting Ferguson pursue tresspassing charges against the spammer, despite his evidence that physical damage was done to his computer. I admire his creativity: the physical damage he cites is the fragmentation of his hard drive due to the spam in his inbox.

Has he also considered the physical damage that can occur by increasing your ejaculate by 581% and shooting it 13 feet?

So, for Cringely's setup, we're looking at 6 machines, plus a 24 port switch (they seem to run from about 30 - 70 watts, so let's split the diff at 50). That's 500 watts, 24 hours a day.

So sure, for him to run his 6 machine cluster will only cost him about $50/mo. It's not an insane amount, but my point was just that it adds up and tends to be one of those ongoing expenses that people don't consider right off the bat.

Having gone through this myself recently, I can point out a couple of details that came as a surprise. If you're not in the US, stop reading right now.

I elected to form a California-based S-Corporation, which cost me $180 in all at incorporatetime.com. They were reasonably efficient - it took about 2 months to get all the papers returned.

Note that although an S-corp pays no FEDERAL taxes, your state may require taxes. CA has a minimum corporate tax of $800, even if the corp has $0 income. Also, if you do business in states other than your home state, you may be liable for corporation tax in those states.

Another issue is the sheer mechanics of getting your hands on "your" money if you set up an S-corp. Obviously, the checks you receive have to be made payable to your company, otherwise the IRS will assume the income is yours personally? That means you need a corporate bank account (for which you need a Federal Tax ID). If you bill your customers in chunks of $5k or more, be aware that banks impose an extended hold on checks for this amount. Ask banks what their policy is on this.

In my case (Bank of America), this is 9 business days, which means that I receive a check on, say, Thursday the 1st, the funds won't be available in the business account until Wednesday the 14th, assuming I get the check to the bank on the Thursday. Then you may have to go through the same process with your own personal bank. In my case, this means that I can't write a personal check using the money I received on the 1st until the 29th of the month. (I have to mail in a company check to my bank).

I realize that this could be circumvented by simply paying myself more through regular payroll & reducing the need for ad-hoc checks, but my understanding is that the lower you keep your "salary", the less you'll pay in Social Security taxes (14% of salary). Once your business is set up & cash is regularly flowing, this ceases to be an issue, but you should not make the mistake I made of assuming that your savings only have to cover the time until your company receives its first check.

HTH

Dave

Lawrence,

Do you have any comment on the EFFs ongoing support of spammers right to spam or the EFFs defeat in their lawsuit supporting the assertion that a company cannot block a spammer if the spammer objects, as reported here (PDF, Spammer vs Intel)?

I'm sorry phone lines are not low voltage and they do cause interference with CAT5 cable.

Phone lines run at a much higher frequency (around 2.6khz)...

... but they only run at around 60v (I believe).

What all this means is that phone lines have a shorter range but can cause more interference, and power lines have greater range but won't completely wreck the signal.

You can still find evidence of the posts/sites in question!

The ComputerXpress Raging Bull forum was the message board used by the bulk of the defendants in this case. Undestone and Ogravity, still active, were defendants. Most of the offending posts have been removed, but there are some interesting posts by the defendants in the first 100 messages. Ogravity also set up a site about ComputerXpress and penny stock scams here. This site was mentioned in the appelate court opinion [pdf].

Keep in mind that ComputerXpress changed its name from Stop-n-Sock [nasd-otc:USAV], and used the domain CostPlusFive.com.

It was just amazing to read the PDF and to notice how straightforward and understandable the document was.

It almost seemed like it was written by a person with some technical knowledge. Give more cases for these folks to handle! :)

Or you can go straight to the DOC.

• The California 210/30 freeway extension costs approximately one billion for 28.2 miles of freeway. [The Big Dig in Boston is over 10 times more expensive, for you easterners.]
  [www.dot.ca.gov]
• The federal government spends about one billion to pay interest on the federal debt each day.
  [www.publicdebt.treas.gov]

The California Materials Exchange link should be:
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/calmax/

The following list of places to donate old computers was copied from an LA Times article quite some time ago (sorry I can't cite it). You'd have to double check that they will accept parts in addition to whole machines.

* Goodwill Industries: 888-4-GOODWILL (to find closest donation center)
* Goodwill Computer Clearance Center: 626-915-4433 (for donating more than two computers)
* All Tech Computer Recyclers: 877-PC-RECYCLE
* Salvation Army: 800-95-TRUCK
* National Safety Council: http://www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/recycler.htm (listings by state)
* California Materials Exchange: http://www.cimb.ca.gov/calmax/
* Los Angeles County Materials exchange Program: http://www.lacomax.com/

Best of luck!
- Rachel
http://www.reinyday.com/

There's an even more straightforward method than the transponders - speed sensors along the freeway at frequent intervals coupled with still cameras. The sensors are already there in many places in California, for instance, see the San Diego Area Traffic Report page.

As I understand it, systems like this coupled with cameras are already used to send automated tickets to people in Europe. Neat, eh?

But why stop there? These things are cheap enough. Make them mandatory in all cars. Monitor your car speed through GPS. Violate the speed limit, get a ticket in the mail. Plus tracking devices can help the cops find any car at any time because they're ALL being tracked. That's a GOOD thing, right? Fight crime, right?

This country is going to hell quickly. I fear for the life that my son is going to have.

I couldn't agree more, and the 'no illegal surveillance' issue is one worth getting involved in. One good place to start is boycotting anything that promotes hidden cameras for anything. Spy TV and its ilk, for instance.

Perhaps with enough public outcry we can prevent 1984 (ala George Orwell) from happening here in the US...but at this point I wouldn't count on it. Robert Heinlein was right on target many years ago (~30) when he pointed out that the US started on the road to hell when a national ID system was established. Now we have national crime databases, and a national police apparatus that grows ever stronger and prone to abuse. Time to colonize the ocean floor, or another planet...we desperately need a new frontier, with elbow room and actual freedom.

186,282 mi/s...not just a good idea, its the law!

The Sklyarov hearing was supposed to be at/will be at the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California.

Somebody should tell the Court's admin to stop using a webserver written by these so-called "open source" programmers.

Somebody should tell the Court's admin to stop using a webserver written by these so-called "open source" programmers.

fine...make me do a google search...

California Internet Voting Task Force

We already have real time traffic data in many cities - example San Diego.

Granted, this will supply more data, but I can't see how its going to help congestion much. It's just going to provide more proof that you can't get from point a to point b during rush hour.

Yes, concrete ships were made way back during WWI. There were three ships built in Oakland in 1917, but they were never used. One of them is sunk at Seacliff State Beach in Santa Cruz, Ca. You can read a little more about it here.

Swinging your fists is not illegal until you hit someone. It isn't illegal to swing your fist "before another man's nose", unless it can be proven you were actively threatening him. Even then, compensation wouldn't be awarded, but you wouldn't have much of a case if your sparring partner struck you.

...Oh, I almost forgot:

I am the first private citizen to be part of the exclusive nuclear club. Today I deploy a missle from my back-yard, aimed at San Francisco. Death to the beach-dwellers!

Come and get me, California.

California has already begun this process. All Website portals must have the same look and feel (and before you start complaining, no, they are NOT all on IIS, most are in fact on Solaris). They are passing bills down the street at the Capitol to require posting of certain information to the Web (chiefest among them decisions by the Public Utilities Commission, those electricity whores, and enforcement actions against insurance agents by the Department of Insurance).

The drive for the digitalised government here in sunny CA is actually kind of working. While it's true that there IS a digital divide, more people have access to the Internet than don't, at least in this state (libraries are required to provide access over government-sponsored pipes), and they don't want to alienate the ones who DO use computers for everything, who are, after all, the rich and famous and BOFH :)

The U.S. Government will take a lot longer to move online, but it will eventually happen... and those in government jobs (and those who apply during downturns because "the government doesn't shrink") will be forced to sit there and do noth... oh wait, never mind.

Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have /bin/cp

California has already begun this process. All Website portals must have the same look and feel (and before you start complaining, no, they are NOT all on IIS, most are in fact on Solaris). They are passing bills down the street at the Capitol to require posting of certain information to the Web (chiefest among them decisions by the Public Utilities Commission, those electricity whores, and enforcement actions against insurance agents by the Department of Insurance).

The drive for the digitalised government here in sunny CA is actually kind of working. While it's true that there IS a digital divide, more people have access to the Internet than don't, at least in this state (libraries are required to provide access over government-sponsored pipes), and they don't want to alienate the ones who DO use computers for everything, who are, after all, the rich and famous and BOFH :)

The U.S. Government will take a lot longer to move online, but it will eventually happen... and those in government jobs (and those who apply during downturns because "the government doesn't shrink") will be forced to sit there and do noth... oh wait, never mind.

Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have /bin/cp

California has already begun this process. All Website portals must have the same look and feel (and before you start complaining, no, they are NOT all on IIS, most are in fact on Solaris). They are passing bills down the street at the Capitol to require posting of certain information to the Web (chiefest among them decisions by the Public Utilities Commission, those electricity whores, and enforcement actions against insurance agents by the Department of Insurance).

The drive for the digitalised government here in sunny CA is actually kind of working. While it's true that there IS a digital divide, more people have access to the Internet than don't, at least in this state (libraries are required to provide access over government-sponsored pipes), and they don't want to alienate the ones who DO use computers for everything, who are, after all, the rich and famous and BOFH :)

The U.S. Government will take a lot longer to move online, but it will eventually happen... and those in government jobs (and those who apply during downturns because "the government doesn't shrink") will be forced to sit there and do noth... oh wait, never mind.

Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have /bin/cp

California has already begun this process. All Website portals must have the same look and feel (and before you start complaining, no, they are NOT all on IIS, most are in fact on Solaris). They are passing bills down the street at the Capitol to require posting of certain information to the Web (chiefest among them decisions by the Public Utilities Commission, those electricity whores, and enforcement actions against insurance agents by the Department of Insurance).

The drive for the digitalised government here in sunny CA is actually kind of working. While it's true that there IS a digital divide, more people have access to the Internet than don't, at least in this state (libraries are required to provide access over government-sponsored pipes), and they don't want to alienate the ones who DO use computers for everything, who are, after all, the rich and famous and BOFH :)

The U.S. Government will take a lot longer to move online, but it will eventually happen... and those in government jobs (and those who apply during downturns because "the government doesn't shrink") will be forced to sit there and do noth... oh wait, never mind.

Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have /bin/cp

California has already begun this process. All Website portals must have the same look and feel (and before you start complaining, no, they are NOT all on IIS, most are in fact on Solaris). They are passing bills down the street at the Capitol to require posting of certain information to the Web (chiefest among them decisions by the Public Utilities Commission, those electricity whores, and enforcement actions against insurance agents by the Department of Insurance).

The drive for the digitalised government here in sunny CA is actually kind of working. While it's true that there IS a digital divide, more people have access to the Internet than don't, at least in this state (libraries are required to provide access over government-sponsored pipes), and they don't want to alienate the ones who DO use computers for everything, who are, after all, the rich and famous and BOFH :)

The U.S. Government will take a lot longer to move online, but it will eventually happen... and those in government jobs (and those who apply during downturns because "the government doesn't shrink") will be forced to sit there and do noth... oh wait, never mind.

Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have /bin/cp

-jhp

Emergency Hearing
The California Public Utilities Commission will hold an emergency hearing tomorrow, Friday, March 30, 2001, at 10 a.m. to consider issuing a temporary restraining order in the case of XO California, Inc. vs. Northpoint Communications, Inc. The hearing will be held in Hearing Room B at the Commission's offices located at 505 Van Ness Avenue. At issue is the discontinuation of DSL service by Northpoint Communications.

Yes! We can use this to enforce the California Emergency Energy Conservation Regulations. If your thermostat is set too low during a peak air conditioning load period, you're in trouble now.

Many US states do something similar. For example, California has an initiative process that requires 5% or 8% of voters to sign the petition, depending on whether normal laws or the constitution are being updated. There are additional restrictions (beyond the percent of voters), such as neutral but useful editing by the Secretary of State, but the idea is basically the same.

(1) Article II, [section] 8:

(a) The initiative is the power of the electors to propose statutes and amendments to the Constitution and to adopt or reject them.

(b) An initiative measure may be proposed by presenting to the Secretary of State a petition that sets forth the text of the proposed statute or amendment to the Constitution and is certified to have been signed by electors equal in number to 5 percent in the case of a statute, and 8 percent in the case of an amendment to the Constitution, of the votes for all candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial election.

(c) The Secretary of State shall then submit the measure at the next general election held at least 131 days after it qualifies or any special statewide election held prior to that general election. The Governor may call a special statewide election for the measure.

(d) An initiative measure embracing more than one subject may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.

202. If an employee not having a written contract for a definite period quits his or her employment, his or her wages shall become due and payable not later than 72 hours thereafter, unless the employee has given 72 hours previous notice of his or her intention to quit, in which case the employee is entitled to his or her wages at the time of quitting...

203. If an employer willfully fails to pay, without abatement or reduction, in accordance with Sections 201, 201.5, 202, and 205.5, any wages of an employee who is discharged or who quits, the wages of the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action therefor is commenced; but the wages shall not continue for more than 30 days. ...

216. In addition to any other penalty imposed by this article, any person, or an agent, manager, superintendent, or officer thereof is guilty of a misdemeanor, who:

1. Having the ability to pay, willfully refuses to pay wages due and payable after demand has been made.
2. Falsely denies the amount or validity thereof, or that the same is due, with intent to secure for himself, his employer or other person, any discount upon such indebtedness, or with intent to annoy, harass, oppress, hinder, delay, or defraud, the person to whom such indebtedness is due.

All that monitoring is there for a different reason. CALTRANS discovered in the 1980s that more than half of freeway traffic delays are due to accidents or other traffic-obstructing incidents. So they put in place systems to detect problems very rapidly and get emergency vehicles to the scene quickly. This increases the capacity of the freeway system by about one lane, but it's much cheaper. The policy change was that the emergency response is designed to clear the freeway as quickly as possible; law enforcement is a secondary priority. So more effort goes into getting tow trucks and CALTRANS vehicles to the scene. This took some re-education of the cops. At first they weren't happy responding to stuff like this:

8:55AM - LARGE PIECE OF PLYWOOD IN #2 LN
8:57AM - CHP Unit Enroute

More recently, TV cameras have been installed along major urban freeways. They have pan, tilt, and zoom, but they don't move much. Mostly they're ignored until some other sensor (usually the speed-sensing loops) detects a traffic disruption. This, in fact, is the real function of CALTRANS speed sensing. Anything that disrupts traffic flow is very visible from the speed sensor map, which has become a part of California culture. In L.A., it's on a cable channel.

All that monitoring is there for a different reason. CALTRANS discovered in the 1980s that more than half of freeway traffic delays are due to accidents or other traffic-obstructing incidents. So they put in place systems to detect problems very rapidly and get emergency vehicles to the scene quickly. This increases the capacity of the freeway system by about one lane, but it's much cheaper. The policy change was that the emergency response is designed to clear the freeway as quickly as possible; law enforcement is a secondary priority. So more effort goes into getting tow trucks and CALTRANS vehicles to the scene. This took some re-education of the cops. At first they weren't happy responding to stuff like this:

8:55AM - LARGE PIECE OF PLYWOOD IN #2 LN
8:57AM - CHP Unit Enroute

More recently, TV cameras have been installed along major urban freeways. They have pan, tilt, and zoom, but they don't move much. Mostly they're ignored until some other sensor (usually the speed-sensing loops) detects a traffic disruption. This, in fact, is the real function of CALTRANS speed sensing. Anything that disrupts traffic flow is very visible from the speed sensor map, which has become a part of California culture. In L.A., it's on a cable channel.

All that monitoring is there for a different reason. CALTRANS discovered in the 1980s that more than half of freeway traffic delays are due to accidents or other traffic-obstructing incidents. So they put in place systems to detect problems very rapidly and get emergency vehicles to the scene quickly. This increases the capacity of the freeway system by about one lane, but it's much cheaper. The policy change was that the emergency response is designed to clear the freeway as quickly as possible; law enforcement is a secondary priority. So more effort goes into getting tow trucks and CALTRANS vehicles to the scene. This took some re-education of the cops. At first they weren't happy responding to stuff like this:

8:55AM - LARGE PIECE OF PLYWOOD IN #2 LN
8:57AM - CHP Unit Enroute

More recently, TV cameras have been installed along major urban freeways. They have pan, tilt, and zoom, but they don't move much. Mostly they're ignored until some other sensor (usually the speed-sensing loops) detects a traffic disruption. This, in fact, is the real function of CALTRANS speed sensing. Anything that disrupts traffic flow is very visible from the speed sensor map, which has become a part of California culture. In L.A., it's on a cable channel.

A. Californians elected GOP legislators who, fed by fat cat Texan-owned firm campaign contributions, pushed through deregulation.

It was quite apparent when the power went out last summer in the Bay area that there was a problem. There was a Report to Governor Davis about it. Plenty of explanation there. Of course, new plants should have been started ten years ago, not summer of 2000.

Personally I find it bewildering that the US is unable to produce enough power to keep going. Even though the UK is not always able to meet peak demands, when we do have a shortfall we can cover the extra by using spare capacity from France. Who in turn can call on half of Europe.

By contrast there are only two nuclear power plants left in California., producing all of 14% of our power.

The symbol of the real problem IMO is that, despite no new power plants being built in ages (20 years in Los Angeles county), new houses are going up constantly. (At $400k a pop.) Just wait until they all fire up their air conditioners.

Never mind the energy and traffic issues with all the SUVs their owners will be driving.

Contrary to what those in other sections of the world may think (what? you don't keep up with everything that happens in California? why not?), this is not exactly a new topic.

It comes down to, essentially, a truly awful economic decision and a great deal of FUD spread by (who else?) the power companies and the media.

Deregulation started in 1995, when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in San Francisco started studying the possibility. Other states (most notably New Jersey/Delaware/Pennsylvania/Maryland, which forms one power region) had managed to successfully deregulate power, so California figured it was a Good Thing (TM).

The bad economics come in when you realize that it was only the wholesale market that was deregulated, but that Southern California Edison (SCE) and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) were under a CPUC-imposed rate freeze, which meant they could not raise their rates.

Added to this was a requirement that Edison, at least (I'm not sure about PG&E), was forced to divest itself of its power plants. These power plants were bought up by companies that were essentially startups. The new generators of electricity raised the price of electricity, and SCE and PG&E were stuck.

It amounts to a larger version of the rent control in my hometown of Santa Monica - costs may rise but the end-users pay a fixed rate set by the government.

An interesting side note for those who care to research further - San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) was under no such rate freeze, and prices, predictably, tripled this summer. SDG&E, you notice, is not facing bankruptcy, because they are free to raise their rates.

As for the environmental "cartel" whining about nuclear power, it was my last knowledge that both Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant north of San Luis Obispo and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS, aka "the iron tits" due to their unfortunate shape) were both running (with some exceptions due to kelp in the intake at DCNPP).

The cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale, Riverside, and San Bernadino (among others) are NOT affected, no matter what FUD you may see in the national media, because they have municipal utilities which have long-term contracts and were never regulated (the CPUC has no authority over municipal utilities).

You can check the status of the grid at the California Independent System Operator's website, but it may be down (slashdotted without ever being posted on slashdot, imagine!) We have had no rotating outages yet. Let's hope the broken system gets fixed soon.

When the topics are technical, Slashdot has a really good signal/noise ratio. Smart things get modded up; stupid things get modded down and/or stomped on.

Here, though, we see what happens when it's a topic where people don't know much about. The volume is just as high, the opinions are just firm. But most people are just talking out their asses, and moderators are giving big points to Limbaugh-like rants without a scrap of fact in 'em.

Since this article already has enough opinion, I'll just stick to a few facts and some interesting links.

I live in San Francisco, so I've been following this closely. A very interesting site for the curious is the California Independent System Operator, an organization responsible for the long-distance high-voltage lines and the power that flows over them. They have a FAQ, a diagram that shows how the power flows, and an up-to-the-minute graph showing projected and actual power load. (I say we all pick a time tomorrow to turn off everything and see if we can make the graph drop.)

Personally, I use 100% renewable power from utility.com. (I actually pay less than others, but I'd happily pay more for my green preferences.) They are certified by Green-e, a non-profit that verifies the power content. (The typical mix for California uses only 12% renewables, with 20% coal, 20% large hydroelectric, 31% natural gas, and 16% nuclear. (Yes, large hydroelectric is counted separately; it's not considered very environmentally friendly these days.)

There are several good articles in the New York Times about all this, including one on following the money. There is also one on how Texas plans to do it differently. And as subscribers to The Economist know, California's deregulation was a pretty shoddy job compared to other utility deregulations around the world.

So those of you who lay the blame entirely on environmental regs from California's own special blend of fruits, nuts, and flakes should research a little further. You'll find a picture that's much more interesting and complex: political dithering, a lack of foresight, corporate greed, and plenty of plain old stupidity are involved.

1. Visit the state's graphics heavy behemoth of a web site. Clicking on 'Emergency Services' on the front page sends you to earthquake information. Sorry. No electricity warnings easily found.
2. Turn to newspapers to learn that the person in charge of this issue is the 'Independent System Operator.' (And no, the ISO is probably not a computer geek.)
3. Return to the web site and search for the job title. Aha, the first search result takes you to the California ISO web site. Of course the ISO's front page doesn't describe what the ISO does or even explain what 'ISO' stands for.
4. Surely for a stage three alert the ISO would put a big alert message on its front page. Well, you thought wrong.
5. Muddling through its murky interface you find news releases. Ahh, but of course they're all posted as PDF files. The logic must be that only people with PDF readers are energy hogs and they of course enjoy using plug-ins to read plain text documents.

Who wins in all of this? The news media wins by our continued reliance on them. State governments do not understand that they now control their own broadcast medium.

I also think it's important to offer a lot of government services. Remember, the government is even more flooded with requests, paperwork, etc than any other organisation. So if you can provide services automatically over the web, like making appointments, filing requests, filing forms, obtaining forms, etc, then you as the webmaster have actually saved the taxpayers money! This may be the most important part. If every government organisation did this, it would cut down on their overhead significantly, and save us all some money.

I am currently working through the complaint system of the California Public Utilities Commision (PUC). they aren't much better, but I think if evryone started complaining to them, we might get something done. Check out their complaint form to file a complaint.

Hope this helps.

SEC. 23. Section 85301 is added to the Government Code, to read:

85301. (a) A person, other than a small contributor committee or political party committee, may not make to any candidate for elective state office other than a candidate for statewide elective office, and a candidate for elective state office other than a candidate for statewide elective office may not accept from a person, any contribution totaling more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) per election.

(b) Except to a candidate for Governor, a person, other than a small contributor committee or political party committee, may not make to any candidate for statewide elective office, and except a candidate for Governor, a candidate for statewide elective office may not accept from a person other than a small contributor committee or a political party committee, any contribution totaling more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per election.

Check it out here. Polling places use computers and a private network to relay vote tallys. I also heard that they use a touch screen computer display to actually cast their ballots, but I havn't seen any reports confirming this.

Also, California is apparently running non-binding on-line voting demonstrations.

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Proposition 34 limits the amount that an individual can spend on campaigning. If you're not allowed to spend money on it, you're not free to do it.

I'm sure some of you have heard about the over 3 million people in California who filed for absentee ballots. They say that many of the state's critical races will have to wait to be decided until all (at least the majority) of these are turned in.

Yet, California's Internet Voting Task Force strongly discourages any consideration of an all-electronic Internet voter registration system. And further, not a replacement either for absentee balloting or balloting at the polls. Yet they go on to say that Internet voting systems should be modeled on the absentee ballot system.

What is going on here? I myself got screwed this election because of people like this. I work for Motorola (my views do not represent those... blah blah blah), but I am temporarily at work in a different corporate location, statewise, than I normally live in and was informed too late to get an absentee ballot. And I know I'm not the only one, so now I can't vote in this election. If you ask me, Internet voting would be a great way to solve these problems.