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U.S. Election Gives VoIP Traffic A Bump
phoneboy writes "According to this news story on Voxilla.com, a number of VoIP service providers have experienced higher-than-normal call volumes today. The calls were traced to mostly Democratic volunteers making calls in key battleground states."
Is it because the Republicans didn't need the calls, or that they couldn't figure out the VoIP software?
Ummm ok...so what is so important about this bit of news? Are they implying that most VOIP users are democrats?
Life is not for the lazy.
yet another effect of new/cheaper communication technology on getting the vote out. E-Mails/IMs/websites are nothing new these days, but I've heard about groups of volunteers getting together to use free cell minutes to make calls and now VOIP. Rock on!
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
Those calls really helped too.
as I said in my post below, its more showing how new/cheaper communication technologies are affecting the election and voter turnout. This article doesnt have much to do with politics (though it is interesting that more democrats seem to be using this than republicans, perhaps democrats tend to be more tech savvy?)
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
My wife and I rarely use our Vonage account.
However, we have dialed just about every family member we know of in the last 24-hours trying to get them out to the polls. Since we're both at home, we might as well use our "landline."
DUH!
"The calls were traced to mostly Democratic volunteers making calls in key battleground states"
Surely I'm not the only one that finds this statement rather disturbing.
how the hell can they trace it to "democrats", wow, talk about Orwells 1984 in action.
90% of Ohio's provisional ballots were valid last time [2000]. Also, even with Ohio, if Kerry wins the rest of the unpredicted states, its 269 to 269 and goes to the house.
Video Production Support
i call it spam
Since the FCC is (currently) Republican, except harder regulation in the upcoming Presidential term on VOiP carriers.
It's a stretch though, to imagine that Democrats are larger VOIP users than Republicans - that's data mining carried to the extreme.
> The calls were traced to mostly Democratic volunteers making calls in key
> battleground states."
Well, given that they'll all be crying, I guess at least there'll be a good compression ratio!
Kerry currently has 242 electoral votes, with Ohio (20), Wisconsin(10), Iowa(7), Nevada(5), and New Mexico(5) still in limbo.
So Kerry could get Ohio + Wisconsin + some others and have plenty more than 270.
I was just responding to the guy in the parent of my post who said he couldn't get it even with Ohio. Also, you will only be able to tell after voting is done, after provisional ballots are counted, and after the lawyers are through ravaging Ohio :)
Perhaps if foreigners had stayed out of trying to influence the Ohio election, the outcome might have been different. We don't like outsiders telling us what to do.
Provisional votes COUNT (provisionally)!
Preparing for a possible civil war. (I think Bush will strike first but blame the democrats, before the provisional ballots or recounts or appeals are done).
Don't forget: in the event of a civil war, food shipments may be irregular, so plant a garden.
It's just that the loudest/funniest/editor people on slashdot are liberal, so you assume that slashdot is a liberal crowd. That doesn't mean techies are liberal.
Well, yes. He could win Ohio at this rate with the extra ballots (provisional, overseas military, etc.). To do so minimally (given the latest numbers - 147613), he'd have to get that many votes + half of the remaining votes + 1. Assuming 300,000 votes remaining (including overseas military, which is most likely inflated), he'd have to get 223808 votes. . . which is close to 75% of the total number of votes remaining. Given the close statistical nature of the normal votes, getting this percentage is HIGHLY unlikely. I believe Kerry is just prolonging things. I'd do it too if there was any ray of hope.
FORTUNE FAVORS IRONY
Look, I voted for Kerry, but wtf is he thinking? Once all Ohio's precincts are in Bush will lead by something near 140,000 votes. The highest number I am hearing is 175,000 provisional ballots outstanding, lets be generous and say 200,000. Last election 90% were legit, lets be generous and say 95% are legit. 200,000 * .95 = 190,000. to make up 140,000 with 190,000. Kerry needs to get 140000/190000 = 73.7%. Kerry has not gotten this percentage in any other state in the country, not MA, not NY, nowhere. Its just impossible folks
It would appear that Kerry's mathematical skills are as poor as Bush's grammatical skills.
CNN just called Wisconsin. It's more than a ray of hope, it's still very much up in the air!
That's all well and good. However, with Ohio, Bush doesn't need to win anything else. Kerry can get all the remaining states and end up with a 269/269 tie. With a 269 total electorial vote count, Bush will win by default in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives tiebreaker. As long as Bush has Ohio (which is mathematically most likely), he wins.
FORTUNE FAVORS IRONY
"Oh my god, how can be reelected again a patetic monkey such George W. Bush?? I can't believe USA is so stupid. I thought 4 years of global shit was enought to fire that crazy man... But of course USA is different. I hope american people wouldn't suffer too much because of this. The only thing I can assure is that Europe, China and other powerful countries are going to lead in the 21st century.
It's a shame, it was a good opportunity for USA to show the world they could do the right thing."
Not to feed the troll, but it needs to be said. What we have done is elect the man of *our* choice to protect *our* interests, the same as the people of any other country with a choice will elect the leader *they* think will protect *their* interests. That the interests of the U.S.A. and that of other countries, many of which aren't exactly our friends in deed, (despite platitudes to the contrary, and some quite vocally and even materially opposed to nearly anything pro-U.S.) differs greatly is to be expected.
Cheers
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Kerry is 252 currently ...
252 (Kerry currently) + 20 (Ohio) = 272
Not 269.
I know that Ohio is currently leaning towards Bush, but it hasn't been called yet (provisional ballots).
It's a shame, it was a good opportunity for USA to show the world they could do the right thing.
The right thing was to ditch all the political parties, eliminate all entangling alliances, and try and bridge the values gap between certain sections of the country (North and South).
Oh wait, wasn't that what Washington said hundreds of years ago?
FORTUNE FAVORS IRONY
More than 50% of the American people supports the president who started a war and deceived his people and the world about the prerequisite of that war. Regardless of the outcome of the election, the world will remember the statement you as a country gave to the world today.
To get 15 thousand calls out in one day, you need more than just a home PC and a sound card. This is a comercial operation such as a call center with a full phone bank for the telemarkers.
The Democrats really are pushing hard to get back in.. Really hard. They needed a full staff of pushy salesmen. The Republicans ran on steadfastness and not policy today by today's poll. Honesty does not require as much salesmanship to convince people.
Oops this is libral Slashdot.. Time to grab the asbestos....
The truth shall set you free!
According to johnkerry.com 250,000 votes remain uncounted in Ohio. Who ever gets those votes WINS.
My apologies, I haven't been keeping up with the latest numbers (:
As for the above statement, you do realize that both candidates will receive portions of the vote that correspond to the distribution of normal Ohio voters? If it's anything like the typical vote, there's no chance for Kerry. Again, it's highly unlikely that Kerry will win.
FORTUNE FAVORS IRONY
" Would this be the same Strat from Maxforums, by chance? Haven't been THERE in a while... :("
:-D
No, sorry..never even visted there, let alone posted. Although with such apparently refined tastes in both guitars and s/n's, he must be a particularly charming and intelligent fellow, not to mention devilishly good-looking.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Look on the bright side, in four more years Bush can never be president again!!!
What makes you think that in 4 more years there will still be an America?
Mod me up insightful man.. but remember what Usama said?
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Am I the only one that knows not a single person that went to vote under 30 who didn't vote for Kerry? And did anyone else see a fairly lacking percentage of people over 30 at the polls? Has not Kerry been said to completely decimate Bush in the under-30 demographic?
Makes me wonder how the hell Bush got such a majority. Diebold, possibly. Diebold is, after all, in bed with the Republicans.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Don't usually reply to my own posts, but it's funny to see how the mods take a simple polite and thoughtful reply pointing out that different countries will elect leaders that best reflect their own interests as a troll if it disagrees with their interests and biases. Sort of makes my point, in a sad way. Thanks for the empirical proof.
Cheers
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
On the subject of VOIP, does anyone know if you can transfer land or cell numbers to VOIP just like you can with cell phones?
73.7%. Kerry has not gotten this percentage in any other state in the country, not MA, not NY, nowhere
Kerry got 89.5% of the vote in DC, but I take your point - the rest of the post is probably true.
I for one would love to accomodate you. We could pull all United States interests out of every country in the world. This includes all military stationed overseas, and all US companies with overseas branches. Also, all imports and exports would cease, all foreign aid would cease, and the UN would be escorted to the airport for a trip to Europe, no return flight. Every US satellite would be allowed only for US transmission, even the GPS sats.
Let Europe stop bitching about the US putting its nose into everyone else's business, and let them deal with the global chaos that would ensue. Because every piss-ant wannabe dictator in Africa would start slaughtering everyone who stood in their way of ruling their corner of the jungle. (By the way, which ones are we SUPPORTING?) Columbia would disolve. Likewise the Balkans would flare-up with the shit that's been smoldering there for the last few years. Especially since the Muslim fanatics would be trying to recapture their territory, for a second Ottoman Empire.
You think France is mad now, wait until there is no demand for their cheeses and wines. The unofficial boycott for the last couple years has dented their profits, an all-out embargo by the US would drive many out of business.
Japan is just now recuperating from their own recession, imagine the fun watching them lay off a hundred thousand auto workers because they can't ship anything to the US either. Then the stereo workers, computer workers, television workers, and all other electronic products.
India. Outsourcing. Ended. Enough said.
All of South-East Asia and the Southern Pacific nations that currently make so much of our cheap import crap would be given numbers to distributors in Europe, because we don't want that shit anymore, even if it does have the Levi's label on it.
And, last but not least, all non citizens would be deported immediately. The military would be stationed along the entire southern border to stop illegal immigrants, with bullets not handcuffs.
Sure, it would be a stupid thing to do, and would hurt the US economy. It would probably strengthen our feircest enemies more than hurt them. But we could finally tell everyone else to shut the fuck up, and mean it. Put a big stick in their eye. Give them a big shitburger and watch them eat it.
By the way, if anyone is still reading this. If we are so unwelcome in the world, and everyone wishes we would not butt in on everyone's business, why are be being chastized for not helping stop the genocide in the Sudan? And, when Haiti was going through a revolution of its own lately, why did the international community demand the US step in to solve it? You seem to not want us to invade other countries for our reasons, but insist we do so for your reasons. And since we had many of our troops in a combat zone, and France and Germany didn't have any troops in a combat zone, wouldn't it have made more sense for them to send troops to Haiti, under a UN mandate, to restore peace and provide food and water?
I have to stop wasting so much time reading Slashdot. It's interfering with my crystal meth addiction.
and now she's pregnant.
;)
And I have grandkids... You sure like them old. I didn't know greatgrandmothers had much chance of that.. Well I'll be the first to congratulate her on the miracle.
Just feeding the troll...
The truth shall set you free!
And apparently 100% of precincts reported.
So how exactly will this number continue to reduce?
Slow down there cowboy (not neal).
...
All of South-East Asia and the Southern Pacific nations that
Australia - in the Southern Pacific supports the US - leave us in the in crowd if you please!
Consider that maybe 911 might have been the wrong way to curry Bush's favour - the guy had been in office for 9 months so much of the past is not really directly his fault.
So he reacted in a way which nobody likes.
Kick a dog a see if you like the way it reacts.
Once I would like to see someone admit that it is up to the peoples of these countries - say Iraq for example, to standup to their own leaders and not wait til America barges in and stuff things up.
Did anyone notice that in the Last "Election" in Iraq - Saddam had 98-99% of the vote. Even the perfect leader cannot command that much respect. Surely that should have rang a few alarm bells. But when the US president get 51% of the popular vote, some injustice has been done.
end ramble
Steal oil.
Perhaps Oil should be Open Sourced. That might stop the 'Piracy', world conflicts etc...
No let's just stick to Operating systems and other programs - much easier target.
I for one welcome back our American overloard.
Dear citizens of the United States of America,
As a citizen of a very friendly nation, an admirer of your democratic principles and an enthusiast regarding travelling your beautiful country, I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts.
For starters let me offer you my condolences regarding the loss of sanity of at least 50% of your popular voters.
Four years ago I was able to comprehend that you chose the Grand Old Partie's nominee. You are after all quite a conservative country and I respect that. And the man did promise to reunite the country after the intense election-battles.
But that you, after the evidence of four years of Mr. Bush junior's presidency, could not be convinced of his being unfit for the job can only baffle me. No, baffling isn't the right word. It appals me. This result (and the race has not been decided as I write this) shows a total lack of commitment to basic democratic values such as "holding someone with power accountable for what he does with this power". Let me put it straight for you: The man lied.
He did not lie about having sexual intercourse. He did not lie about or try to cover up subversive activities by his re-election committee. He did not lie about covertly allowing drugs smuggling to occur in order to assure cash flow for a friendly guerilla-warfaring fraction in Nicaragua. He did not allow or turn a blind eye to armaments-shipments to a fanatic Islamic country in order to negotiate a release for US-embassy personnel.
No, he lied to get you, the American People, and your legislature to let him go to war. WAR! That is not a blowjob. It is not a break-in. Neither is it a CIA-operation. It is W-A-R. Total Destruction! Loss of human life. Theirs. AND YOURS. What does a normal democratically "checked and balanced" system do with its leaders that lie and mislead in such important matters? It removes them from office, by impeachment or by the casting of the ballot.
What you have done, my dear friends, is say to the American Politics: "You can lie. You can go to war. You can smuggle drugs. You can do any of the things that our high standard of moral justly finds reprehensible. And we are never going to hold you accountable as long as you handle politically petty details, such as the right to bear sub-machine guns, the way we like it." That's a nice exchange: sub-machine gun versus accountability for political officers. I think you are going to see much of those guns in the near future. And the good part is: you are not going to have to pay for them. They will all be subsidised by Uncle Sam. To be specific: by the department of defence that sends you or a loved one into one of the many combat zones that Uncle Dubbaya is creating.
Please don't see this letter as a piece of critique by a European that has no idea of what is going on in your country. I have visited your beautiful country a great many times and I will always respect your choices regarding your politics and your society. With this letter I only mean to show you my disappointment because I believed that you would be able to judge the ability of Mr. Bush to lead your country more -in my eyes- realistically. Maybe it's the way you have set-up your democratic system, but I feel that as a non-US citizen I am not in the position to lecture you regarding your electoral processes. If it needs change or evaluation, you have to do that.
I wish you the very best of luck, strength, wisdom and a touch of Gods subtle grace,
I think you need it.
Siggy.
This unique sig is intended to make this user more recognisable.
Yup, it's purely coincidental that there are French, Portugese, and Dutch names all over Africa and southeast Asia.
Cheney/Ashcroft in '08?
Sorry, I just like to watch you shudder.
DC isn't a state anyway. Plus, it's essentially just one city (urban environment) where Democrats always seem to dominate. Most other states have a mix of urban, suburban, and rural environments that make the vote distribution more even.
Whoops, I shouldn't have put the word "other" in there, indicating DC is a state (it's not). It should just be "Most States."
it's been rather interesting to see the campaigns uses of technology this election... from blogs in the dem primaries to the databases and communication networks that were being used to drive the vote for the election... hopefully now that the people who make up the gov or at least aspire to are beneficiaries of these technologies they will think hard before trying to add useless regulation to them...
Get your torrents...
Let's take the Republifucks ta town like we did the injuns!
Trade them some anthrax coated bibles for their computers!
Lets bomb some limbaughcirclejerks like we did in Irock.
Lets shag some republican daughters like we did in sunday skool!
Lets shock and awe the Neo-con dumbasses!
Save some forest or we burn yo house republifuck!
Shake hands with a gay guy or we will give it to you up the ass!
Abort some worthless kid who'll never vote anyway or we'll abort yours!
Take that ak ta church an show the dumblicans how to really separate their church an state!
Join the militant democratic front.
No dumblican left behind...
I got about a million of those. And they all told me to vote for Kerry.
>What we have done is elect the man of *our* choice
And thats the shocking thing. Even after all that Bush (and his team) has done, you still re-elected him.
Kerry would have looked after your interests also. You've basically given him the thumbs up to all that Bush did in the past four years.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
It's being widely reported by the AP, CNN, Fox News, CSPAN, ABC News, CBS News and others that John Kerry has already called Pres. Bush to concede defeat.
I personally am glad that Kerry has done this. My opinion of him has gone up and I am glad that he will not try to divide the country further by dragging us through a contested election. Mr. Kerry, thank you for that.
And congratulations to Pres. Bush.
infested with jello like fishes no melotron wishes
Actually, isn't it really a much higher percentage than that? He needs those 140,000 just to make up the gap, but your numbers ignore the 50,000 remaining ballots. To win Kerry would need at least half of those remaining ballots (assuming Bush gets all the others), so he really needs 165,001/190,000 = 86.8%. That really seems to shore up your core point even more...
Talk about getting off topic....
Thank you for your support. But this ridiculous idea wouldn't work at all if we played favorites.
And of course, this is just a mental excercise, as no politician would dream of ever doing it.
Now to read the five posts that are at 0 or -1. I bet they all love this idea.
I have to stop wasting so much time reading Slashdot. It's interfering with my crystal meth addiction.
Actually, one thing I remember from American History was that the US did perform a complete embargo against the rest of the world once. It was sometime after the Revolution and before the Civil War. The main result was that the European countries gained significant footholds in trade, and the US economy was in shambles. But at least we showed them how obstinate we can be when push comes to shove.
Again, thanks for reading and posting. That's what this site is for after all.
I have to stop wasting so much time reading Slashdot. It's interfering with my crystal meth addiction.
I know it wouldn't be the death knell of India's economy. That's why I didn't say so. I only said we would stop outsourcing to them. Come to think of it, I wonder how much of their Gross National Product (GNP) comes from outsourced projects (computer programming, web design, phone services, etc.).
Actually, I just wrote that line because I liked how it sounded. Real emphatic and all. After the statements about Japan, I needed something short and too the point.
Anyhow, thanks for the additional viewpoint, about *not* outsourcing. Whether you like it or hate it, it's better to talk about it than ignore it.
I have to stop wasting so much time reading Slashdot. It's interfering with my crystal meth addiction.