The issue is poor security in electronic voting machines produced by the major US manufacturers. I don't think many Slashdotters are inherently opposed to voting machines. The problem is many of the voting machines used in US elections are poorly designed and don't take even basic security precautions.
Let's take Diebold for example. They ended up having to rename their voting machine subsidiary to Premier Election Solutions because it was tarnishing the name of their company and was making their ATM business look bad. A computer science researcher did a source code analysis of their product in 2004 and remarked "this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts." Another analysis concluded “the system, as implemented in policy, procedure, and technology, is at high risk of compromise."
It's a relatively simple process in some of these machines to reprogram them and change the outcome of an election. With that in mind, we need standards in place to ensure that people are not committing election fraud with e-voting machines. Until I can see independent studies on voting machine platforms that validate adequate security protocols, I'm going to remain skeptical about them.
NPR's Planet Money covered this before too. Gone in 60 Seconds grossed $240 million at the box office, but somehow "lost" $212 million. Their accounting is about as realistic as their movies.
So let's assume that he violated policy in refusing to give the password to his boss's boss or create accounts for people. How does this amount to a criminal offense?
If he violates policy, then fire him. But it's the fault of his boss to let him be the only person with access to the system for this long. They should have had other qualified people working with him to help maintain what is described as such an important system. I'm confused about when this goes from being a personnel matter to a criminal matter. Is this just because he was a government employee, or does this extend to the private section? The implications of this become very scary.
you'll recall that this was high-grade weaponized anthrax containing silica, that indicates a high level of technical competence
There was a lot of press initially about the anthrax being high end weapons grade with silica. The truth is, the initial reports of silica are very dubious. That highlights one of the issues in a case like this - you don't even know what basic facts to believe. Almost all of the evidence against Ivins is circumstantial and claims by the government haven't always held up.
Sanctions also are only effective if everyone abides by them. With Iran though, if the western world stops selling them the widgets they need, China or Russia will fill the void. Then they become stronger allies and we have even less leverage than before.
High frequency trading is based on exploiting knowledge that isn't available to everyone. Its akin to insider trading and should be regulated.
Lets say that a company announces something that means big profits. Lots of people then place orders to buy. Due to a special agreement with NASDAQ or whoever, a high frequency trading program will see these orders getting ready to be placed and make their orders a fraction of a second before everybody else. So they get the stock for slightly cheaper and then sell it off quickly for a profit. They end up making money off the people that don't have access to high frequency trading. They don't make a lot off of each trade, but they make up for it in volume.
If this is allowed to continue, the markets will lose their credibility. Hopefully they will either self regulate or government intervention will take care of the problem.
It's completely revisionist to claim the war was "about" freeing slaves (though I admit that's what you'll typically be taught in school as a child here in the US).
1) Just because Lincoln didn't free all slaves, it doesn't mean that the Civil War wasn't about slavery. The abolitionist movement had started years before Lincoln came to power. South Carolina seceded days before Lincoln was elected and the Confederate states formed way before the Emancipation Proclamation. The problem was the southern states felt that abolition was inevitable under Lincoln. Yes, there were other factors at work here like the north's dominance in industry, banking and politics. But those issues ended up centralizing around slavery.
2) Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in rebel held territories. That included Confederate states, but not slave holding states loyal to the Union like Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee. The Emancipation Proclamation though was an executive order during war time. Lincoln stated that his war time executive powers limited what he could declare and that Congress was ultimately responsible for abolishing slavery (which they did 3 years later).
3) Even if you don't buy Lincoln's argument, most political change is typically gradual, and diplomacy can be a big part of it. If Lincoln had abolished all slavery immediately, he might have lost the support of some of the states that had stayed loyal to the Union. The war hadn't exactly gone as they had expected and they needed all the help they could get. Instead, he was able to get international support by taking a stance on slavery, pacify the abolitionists, keep the Union intact, and bought some time until Congress could act. Overall, it seems like a smart move.
Dude, where did you get your statistics? 80% of fatal accidents are at 45mpg or less?
There is actually an online database of fatal vehicle accidents called FARS. In 2006, they list 10,310 accidents at 45mph or less and 13,639 at 46mph or greater. (I excluded the cases where speed was unknown.) That means just 43% of fatal accidents had 1 party traveling at 45mph or less.
Unfortunately, they don't have combined stats to tell you what the rate of the fastest vehicle was traveling, but I'd guess a lot of these accidents were with a fast car hitting a slow car. (1555 fatal accidents involved stopped cars.) If that was the case, then the % of accidents where someone was traveling faster than 45mpg would be much higher.
Also, for that list of top 20 primary causes of accidents, I'm guessing driver inattention would have been #1. Speed would most certainly be a contributing factor though in most any fatal collision. If someone isn't paying attention to the road, would you rather him be driving at 35mph or 55mph? While speed wouldn't have been the primary contributor, it certainly makes a big difference.
"Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, that for the years 1998-2005 global average temperature did not increase (there was actually a slight decrease, though not at a rate that differs significantly from zero)."
Now, you say 2005 had the hottest year on record, yet the official temperature record of the Climate Research Unit shows otherwise. He was pointing this out. Are you going to ignore the official temperature record of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia?
OK, I thought this was an interesting statement so I decided to look it up. http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/info/warming/Here's a graph from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. It has a spike for 1998 but clearly shows an upward trend for global surface temperatures.
I'm not sure if their 1998 data differs significantly from other studies, but it doesn't seem to conclude that global warming is over. In fact, here's a blurb from the same page.
The 1990s were the warmest decade in the series. The warmest year of the entire series has been 1998, with a temperature of 0.58C above the 1961-90 mean. Nine of the ten warmest years in the series have now occurred in the past ten years (1995-2004). The only year in the last ten not among the warmest ten is 1996 (replaced in the warm list by 1990).
So what's the big deal? It looks like you are selectively using data from this study to justify your point, but ignoring the big picture.
"In the market of government, we don't really have much to control."
The most important control we have is our vote. When politicians make egregious appointments like this, it's our responsibility to let them know our disagreement at the ballots (and the polls).
The main problem is accountability. I've seen several posts about cronyism patterns in the administration, but about half of the US population doesn't seem to care. Hell, the press hasn't even bothered to pick this story up. Until people are outraged by this kind of abuse, it will continue to go on.
And seriously, look at what brought this guy's resignation. Deutsch's job was to help explain science issues to the public. This same person was limiting important scientific discussion on major issues, such as global warming. So what brought him down? He lied on his resume. That's like bringing down Capone for tax evasion.
So what do we do about it? Write a letter to your congressman. Write to your newspaper to discuss the issue. Talk to friends. Just do something.
I wonder if Sony or Nintendo would ever be interested in partering with TiVo to do something similar? You can currently download programs from your TiVo to your computer and watcht them in Windows Media Player. If the TiVo format is mostly some variation of mpeg, it should be trivial to set up the consoles so they could play it. They would just need hard drives for storage and a simple interface to connect to TiVo's on your LAN. (Does the Revolution have plans for a hard drive?) That could be a good way for TiVo to differentiate it from the other PVR's out there.
By Bush cancelling programs to protect our atmosphere, we'll be able to let in more wavelengths. Then we don't need the Hubble anymore. This guy thinks of everything:)
So you operate the thing down in the 50 GHz region as a front-end amplifier and demultiplexer for OC-768 fiber interfaces, which are currently ruled by indium-phosphide devices.
Interesting point, but you have completely overlooked the transwarp conduit in the flux capacitor.
Seriously, I know we are a bunch of nerds around here, but I think the only people who understand this are the engineers. Did anybody try running this through BabelFish:)
Nintendo released a statement about this. The screw controls the voltage to the screen and will ultimately ruin your GBA if you adjust it.
A positive and negative voltage controls Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs). The "contrast control" that you are referring to is actually a flicker control. The adjustment is used to synchronize the positive and negative voltages. If these voltages are out of adjustment then the LCD will no longer respond correctly. The result will be an excess charge built up in the liquid crystal and permanently damage the LCD. The excessive charge gives the appearance of a brighter screen because the liquid crystal is not reacting properly to the voltages applied. When the adjustment of the voltages is correct the changing polarities will not allow a charge to build up, which prolongs the LCD life.
This adjustment is set by the manufacturer or must be performed by a qualified Nintendo Technician using proper equipment (Proper lighting, special tools, test equipment and software). Adjusting the flicker without the proper tools and lighting will put the voltages out of sync and may cause damage to the unit.
The big questions to ask here is "Why do you need a handheld?" Both the Palm and the iPaq are great handhelds, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. What's more important for you? Size, battery life, screen quality, color, business apps, Linux...
I have been using a Palm handheld for over 3 years now and love it, but that is because it meets my needs. (Small, long battery life, cheap, great organizer and it runs AvantGo.) But if my needs were to change, then I might need an iPaq.
Actually, the default setting will allow 3rd party cookies. Here's a quote from the CNET article:
However, "third-party" cookies--most often set by marketers or ad networks to track consumer response to promotions--will be allowed through IE 6 default settings only if the third party allows consumers to opt out of data-collection practices. If the company doesn't give consumers an option, the cookie will be blocked.
DoubleClick's Polonetsky noted the company does not collect personally identifiable information with its cookies and does offer consumers an opt out, so its cookies will be accepted under IE 6 default settings.
I am not exactly sure what allowing "consumers to opt out of data-collection practices" really means, but if DoubleClick can actually be allowed on the default, it could not be too restrictive:)
This is definitely a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go. Most people will likely ignore the privacy policies and accept them like we do shrinkwrap licenses.
Also, it's questionable whether companies must abide by their policies or change them as they please. Would this help an individual when a dot-com goes bankrupt, then changes their policy to sell their data?
There is an excellent summary of the Monty Python cast's careers on BBC's site. There's also a bunch of other good info in their special report on the show.
They have really been too busy to put a thorough response here, but my personal fave's of their post-Monty Python work have been Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and A Fish Called Wanda.
Slashdot Mirror
The issue is poor security in electronic voting machines produced by the major US manufacturers. I don't think many Slashdotters are inherently opposed to voting machines. The problem is many of the voting machines used in US elections are poorly designed and don't take even basic security precautions.
Let's take Diebold for example. They ended up having to rename their voting machine subsidiary to Premier Election Solutions because it was tarnishing the name of their company and was making their ATM business look bad. A computer science researcher did a source code analysis of their product in 2004 and remarked "this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts." Another analysis concluded “the system, as implemented in policy, procedure, and technology, is at high risk of compromise."
It's a relatively simple process in some of these machines to reprogram them and change the outcome of an election. With that in mind, we need standards in place to ensure that people are not committing election fraud with e-voting machines. Until I can see independent studies on voting machine platforms that validate adequate security protocols, I'm going to remain skeptical about them.
For more information on security risks in e-voting machines, check out the Premier Election Solutions Wikipedia entry. It's pretty eye opening.
NPR's Planet Money covered this before too. Gone in 60 Seconds grossed $240 million at the box office, but somehow "lost" $212 million. Their accounting is about as realistic as their movies.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/05/the_friday_podcast_angelina_sh.html
So let's assume that he violated policy in refusing to give the password to his boss's boss or create accounts for people. How does this amount to a criminal offense?
If he violates policy, then fire him. But it's the fault of his boss to let him be the only person with access to the system for this long. They should have had other qualified people working with him to help maintain what is described as such an important system. I'm confused about when this goes from being a personnel matter to a criminal matter. Is this just because he was a government employee, or does this extend to the private section? The implications of this become very scary.
you'll recall that this was high-grade weaponized anthrax containing silica, that indicates a high level of technical competence
There was a lot of press initially about the anthrax being high end weapons grade with silica. The truth is, the initial reports of silica are very dubious. That highlights one of the issues in a case like this - you don't even know what basic facts to believe. Almost all of the evidence against Ivins is circumstantial and claims by the government haven't always held up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks#Silicon_content_too_high
There's also a separate NASA mission site with some easier to understand info.
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross
Sanctions also are only effective if everyone abides by them. With Iran though, if the western world stops selling them the widgets they need, China or Russia will fill the void. Then they become stronger allies and we have even less leverage than before.
You're wrong.
High frequency trading is based on exploiting knowledge that isn't available to everyone. Its akin to insider trading and should be regulated.
Lets say that a company announces something that means big profits. Lots of people then place orders to buy. Due to a special agreement with NASDAQ or whoever, a high frequency trading program will see these orders getting ready to be placed and make their orders a fraction of a second before everybody else. So they get the stock for slightly cheaper and then sell it off quickly for a profit. They end up making money off the people that don't have access to high frequency trading. They don't make a lot off of each trade, but they make up for it in volume.
If this is allowed to continue, the markets will lose their credibility. Hopefully they will either self regulate or government intervention will take care of the problem.
It's completely revisionist to claim the war was "about" freeing slaves (though I admit that's what you'll typically be taught in school as a child here in the US).
1) Just because Lincoln didn't free all slaves, it doesn't mean that the Civil War wasn't about slavery. The abolitionist movement had started years before Lincoln came to power. South Carolina seceded days before Lincoln was elected and the Confederate states formed way before the Emancipation Proclamation. The problem was the southern states felt that abolition was inevitable under Lincoln. Yes, there were other factors at work here like the north's dominance in industry, banking and politics. But those issues ended up centralizing around slavery.
2) Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in rebel held territories. That included Confederate states, but not slave holding states loyal to the Union like Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee. The Emancipation Proclamation though was an executive order during war time. Lincoln stated that his war time executive powers limited what he could declare and that Congress was ultimately responsible for abolishing slavery (which they did 3 years later).
3) Even if you don't buy Lincoln's argument, most political change is typically gradual, and diplomacy can be a big part of it. If Lincoln had abolished all slavery immediately, he might have lost the support of some of the states that had stayed loyal to the Union. The war hadn't exactly gone as they had expected and they needed all the help they could get. Instead, he was able to get international support by taking a stance on slavery, pacify the abolitionists, keep the Union intact, and bought some time until Congress could act. Overall, it seems like a smart move.
Dude, where did you get your statistics? 80% of fatal accidents are at 45mpg or less?
There is actually an online database of fatal vehicle accidents called FARS. In 2006, they list 10,310 accidents at 45mph or less and 13,639 at 46mph or greater. (I excluded the cases where speed was unknown.) That means just 43% of fatal accidents had 1 party traveling at 45mph or less.
Unfortunately, they don't have combined stats to tell you what the rate of the fastest vehicle was traveling, but I'd guess a lot of these accidents were with a fast car hitting a slow car. (1555 fatal accidents involved stopped cars.) If that was the case, then the % of accidents where someone was traveling faster than 45mpg would be much higher.
Also, for that list of top 20 primary causes of accidents, I'm guessing driver inattention would have been #1. Speed would most certainly be a contributing factor though in most any fatal collision. If someone isn't paying attention to the road, would you rather him be driving at 35mph or 55mph? While speed wouldn't have been the primary contributor, it certainly makes a big difference.
Uh, they want labels on all violent video games which the ESRB has alrady been doing since 1994.
ESRB
And they want parental controls on consoles, which the big 3 already have in their latest systems.
How to update parental controls
Good job New York! Maybe next they can pass legislation to require seat belts in all cars.
You know, normal people just have aquariums.
Link
Great, does this mean people will start complaining about Dyson products on Woot every week?
The most important control we have is our vote. When politicians make egregious appointments like this, it's our responsibility to let them know our disagreement at the ballots (and the polls).
The main problem is accountability. I've seen several posts about cronyism patterns in the administration, but about half of the US population doesn't seem to care. Hell, the press hasn't even bothered to pick this story up. Until people are outraged by this kind of abuse, it will continue to go on.
And seriously, look at what brought this guy's resignation. Deutsch's job was to help explain science issues to the public. This same person was limiting important scientific discussion on major issues, such as global warming. So what brought him down? He lied on his resume. That's like bringing down Capone for tax evasion.
So what do we do about it? Write a letter to your congressman. Write to your newspaper to discuss the issue. Talk to friends. Just do something.
I wonder if Sony or Nintendo would ever be interested in partering with TiVo to do something similar? You can currently download programs from your TiVo to your computer and watcht them in Windows Media Player. If the TiVo format is mostly some variation of mpeg, it should be trivial to set up the consoles so they could play it. They would just need hard drives for storage and a simple interface to connect to TiVo's on your LAN. (Does the Revolution have plans for a hard drive?) That could be a good way for TiVo to differentiate it from the other PVR's out there.
By Bush cancelling programs to protect our atmosphere, we'll be able to let in more wavelengths. Then we don't need the Hubble anymore. This guy thinks of everything :)
Now that's not to say he should be held accountable to US laws, but his actions are deemed criminal by the DMCA.
Interesting point, but you have completely overlooked the transwarp conduit in the flux capacitor.
Seriously, I know we are a bunch of nerds around here, but I think the only people who understand this are the engineers. Did anybody try running this through BabelFish :)
Here's a story about it at IGN.
I have been using a Palm handheld for over 3 years now and love it, but that is because it meets my needs. (Small, long battery life, cheap, great organizer and it runs AvantGo.) But if my needs were to change, then I might need an iPaq.
I am not exactly sure what allowing "consumers to opt out of data-collection practices" really means, but if DoubleClick can actually be allowed on the default, it could not be too restrictive :)
Also, it's questionable whether companies must abide by their policies or change them as they please. Would this help an individual when a dot-com goes bankrupt, then changes their policy to sell their data?
It sounds like a very interesting article, but I am not sure how much I can trust the results when their high-performance network is already /.ed :)
They have really been too busy to put a thorough response here, but my personal fave's of their post-Monty Python work have been Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and A Fish Called Wanda.
Personally, when it comes to menstuation, I fall in line more with Dave Foley.