Electronic voting allows very fast counting of votes. If you have a billion people voting the same day (India, China) it is very nice to have the results quickly. Problems with electronic voting are detecting tampering, audit trails, and securing electronic communications between polling stations and wherever the central count is tallied.
Paper ballots leave a very good audit trail, but are much slower to count. Counts are often communicated by phone to the central poll. Distributed counting (many small polls, each one having only a few thousand ballots to count) can speed things up, but requires more people.
Common problem are intimidation and violence at the polling place, rigging voter lists, and similiar actions. Paper ballots can be "stuffed", but if there are more votes than voters this can be detected. Electronic votes can be tampered with digitally, but it is possible to make a system that if tampered with the tampering is detectable.
In my opinion, for electronic voting to work, the machines, code, procedures, etc... should all be competely open to public scrutiny. Security via obscurity will not work. Many of the safeguards used for paper ballots (eg physical secrity, no network links, multiple scrutiners, etc...) can be applied to electronic voting. Automated tallinging of multiple polling places without using a network would reduce many of the advantages of electronic poolling, but if the voting machines are physically secured and can be checked later the problem s are reduced.
Niether paper or electronic voting is perfect, and both systems can be abused, but eletronic voting, if implemented correctly, can make elections faster and cheaper when huge populations are involved.
A large proportion of the people in USA jails are there for simple drug possesion. The USA has some of the harshest drug possesion penalties in the Western world.
When I want to fix my car I don't talk to those uppity mechanics - I talk to end users behind the steering wheel who realy know whats going on. Who cares if the "end user" fix will destroy my engine in a week - I want my oil pressure gauge to play musical jingles for all my favorite oil companies!
By your reasoning, "guns have a forseealbe intended use to commit crimes" then it is HANDGUNS that should be banned. Handgubs are easily concealed which makes them perfect for commiting crimes. Any weapon with a large magazine should be banned, as they allow large scale killing. I know that guns do have constructive purposes (hunting, target shooting), but their main reason to exist is to kill people.
I think it is ludicrous that the penalties for "computer hacking" now appear to be as stiff as thiose for violent criminals in the USA.
Copyright infringement is already illegal - no "new" laws were required. The DMCA simply created criminial laws were there were once civil laws. The DMCA is a horrible over-extension of copyright law.
8 years experience and only making $9.00? Time to start sending out resumes. Try to get in with a larger firm where you can move up internally - it sometimes is easier that way for people with experience but no degree.
So show that open source maintenance is the same or lower than closed source and I'm sure they'll come around. At the same time I do agree that government should choose the best software for the job, including long term costs.
Personally, I would more worried about MS's licensing changes, and switch to "renting" software as it will increase software costs quite a bit for anyone who isn't on a short refresh schedule for their software.
Goverment should not be mandating closed or open source software, but the rules should be set up so both types can be considered equally valid. I know open source was often at a disadvantage as there used to be no big vendor to handle support, make the bid, etc... I would hope having RedHat and IBM pursuing contracts would even the field.
Personally, I hope this trend contiues to the point were the whole TV industry implodes (except for Star Trek re-runs, the Simpsons, and Hockey), and everyone suddenly has to learn how to fill their spare time with real life activities.
So? If the market wants crappy TV, let the market provide it. No one is forcing you to watch it. Other than looking for lies, and exagerations, the government has no business regulating commercials, or product placements.
I'm not sure I can see the connection between product placements and drugs. I can't harm my self with a product placement. Bad drugs can kill me. while generally a right winger, I do see a role for government in promoting public safety: courts, police, fire departments, food inspectors and rules on drug safety. I don't see "product placements" in the same category. They may be seaky and underhanded, but thats what we expect from corporations anyways, and what we should be teaching our children to detect.
You obviously don't work with large networks. He is right, in general everything inside is trusted, everything outside is not trusted. We have the same problem. Out wonderful security stoppps everything at the firewalls/scanners, but them some "forgetful" exec (who has forgotten every security policy) plugs his laptop in his office after getting infected at home. The troan emails everyone on his email list, and one of the recpients double clicks on the payload - after all why not, its from good old Bill the VP of xyz.
But why aren't all your NT servers patched? Because the patches have along history of breaking all the apps, and the system owners won't let us until it is tested on the test box which means we are always behind a few patch levels. We have never had a any virus on any flavour of Unix, but we had a groups of tech running through the computer room yanking out lan cables on all the NT boxes one very memorable evening.
But he is right, nine out of ten virus problems we have on our company network are caused by laptops that were infected at home by executives. We have a very clear policy regarding updating the laptops with the latest virus scanner, etc...
The other way viruses get in is idiot execs double clicking on attachments that make it through the firewall. I know you are all wondering why I'm singling out the execs? The worker drones don't usually have laptops, or answer personal email during working hours. The techs generally know better which leaves us with the execs. Now, most execs are cluefull (that is actually how they make their way up the old executive ladder), but hubris comes with the territory.
Its their site, their words, their copyright. Honest people should not be copying others copyrighted works. If you don't want to register - then don't. Just don't whine about not getting your "free" news.
As to "why", it is my guess the number of registered users affects the rates paid for their online adds.
The speed differencial is important, but that big tree you'll hit if you screw up will allways be moving at zero. Also, if you are going too fast you are more likely to LEAVE the road, and if there is an emergency you have much less time to react, and need much more space to slow down. Also at higher speeds you will do much more damage to your car and passengers if you do collide. That ten foot shoulder gives you lots of space if you are going 50Kmph, but its tiny if you are going 160Kmph.
As you drive faster you should leave MORE space between you and the car in front of you - the two second rule.
These aren't 3 year olds that did the shooting. Any child of normal intelligence over the age of 6 should have no trouble at all knowing that death is permanent. It is parents job to teach their children right and wrong, but it certainly isn't the job of game publishers.
It is completely ridiculous to sue the game publisher because some moron kids emulated an OBVIOUSLY dangerous act. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Are you going to sue gun manufactures each time some criminal commits a gun crime?
Would such a stupid, frivolous, lawsuit even be possible outside of the litigious USA?
Rivers not near large concentrations of people are usually fairly clean. Sewage from low tech people polutes a river just as effectively as sewage generated by people using cell phones.
The idea that things were better, cleaner, and closer to nature in the past is just ignorant nostalgia. The last Lion in Europe was killed many hundreds of years ago. It was likely ddestroying the local ecologu that did in the Mayans.
Only an Amerikan would think using deadly force is an appropriate response to a simple trespass. It this attitude, not the just the fact that there are so many guns floting around, that makes guns so dangerous in the USA.
The next Trek, Star Wars, or other book from an established series is more likely to MAKE MONEY than some new,but literate, SF masterpiece. That is why you see shelves filled with various series, and one shelf of new "stand-alone" SF novels. I lay the blame equally at the feet of publishers and the people buying the "safe" books. Only the small presses are interested in advancing the art - the big publishes are only interesting in next quarters profits.
I live in BC Canada and we are 90% Hydro power, and most of the dams are in the middle of no where. All sites have people locally, but actual "production and control" is centrally managed to optimise system utilization and profits. Remote control and monitoring is done on private networks (much of it microwave) - there is NO connection to the internet and the control networks. All critical systems are multiply redundant (opening the wrong gate full open could flood a town). But there is a mix of old, new, and inbewteen systems. Most systems are proprietary and it is hard to get information about them that would be useful to hackers. We do run some non-critical monitoring over our normal private intranet.
I'm sure many other utilities are similar, but I think the real problem is that with deregulation there is zero incentive to build new reliable infratructure like transmission lines. Why would you spend a penny on a new transmission line when the current one is only 87% utilized 75% of the year? The old monopolies did do this kind of long range planning and upgrading. It still gets done, but not until the last minute.
Shakespear was DEFENDING lawyers. The BAD guys were planning to kill all the lawyers so no one would have access to a good defense when they started to round up their enemies.
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Paper ballots leave a very good audit trail, but are much slower to count. Counts are often communicated by phone to the central poll. Distributed counting (many small polls, each one having only a few thousand ballots to count) can speed things up, but requires more people.
Common problem are intimidation and violence at the polling place, rigging voter lists, and similiar actions. Paper ballots can be "stuffed", but if there are more votes than voters this can be detected. Electronic votes can be tampered with digitally, but it is possible to make a system that if tampered with the tampering is detectable.
In my opinion, for electronic voting to work, the machines, code, procedures, etc... should all be competely open to public scrutiny. Security via obscurity will not work. Many of the safeguards used for paper ballots (eg physical secrity, no network links, multiple scrutiners, etc...) can be applied to electronic voting. Automated tallinging of multiple polling places without using a network would reduce many of the advantages of electronic poolling, but if the voting machines are physically secured and can be checked later the problem s are reduced.
Niether paper or electronic voting is perfect, and both systems can be abused, but eletronic voting, if implemented correctly, can make elections faster and cheaper when huge populations are involved.
A large proportion of the people in USA jails are there for simple drug possesion. The USA has some of the harshest drug possesion penalties in the Western world.
When I want to fix my car I don't talk to those uppity mechanics - I talk to end users behind the steering wheel who realy know whats going on. Who cares if the "end user" fix will destroy my engine in a week - I want my oil pressure gauge to play musical jingles for all my favorite oil companies!
I think it is ludicrous that the penalties for "computer hacking" now appear to be as stiff as thiose for violent criminals in the USA.
All copyright should be reduced to 20 years.
8 years experience and only making $9.00? Time to start sending out resumes. Try to get in with a larger firm where you can move up internally - it sometimes is easier that way for people with experience but no degree.
Personally, I would more worried about MS's licensing changes, and switch to "renting" software as it will increase software costs quite a bit for anyone who isn't on a short refresh schedule for their software.
Personally, I hope this trend contiues to the point were the whole TV industry implodes (except for Star Trek re-runs, the Simpsons, and Hockey), and everyone suddenly has to learn how to fill their spare time with real life activities.
So? If the market wants crappy TV, let the market provide it. No one is forcing you to watch it. Other than looking for lies, and exagerations, the government has no business regulating commercials, or product placements.
I'm not sure I can see the connection between product placements and drugs. I can't harm my self with a product placement. Bad drugs can kill me. while generally a right winger, I do see a role for government in promoting public safety: courts, police, fire departments, food inspectors and rules on drug safety. I don't see "product placements" in the same category. They may be seaky and underhanded, but thats what we expect from corporations anyways, and what we should be teaching our children to detect.
Canceled my cable 15 years ago. I do have bunny ears and get two channels on good days.
But why aren't all your NT servers patched? Because the patches have along history of breaking all the apps, and the system owners won't let us until it is tested on the test box which means we are always behind a few patch levels. We have never had a any virus on any flavour of Unix, but we had a groups of tech running through the computer room yanking out lan cables on all the NT boxes one very memorable evening.
The other way viruses get in is idiot execs double clicking on attachments that make it through the firewall. I know you are all wondering why I'm singling out the execs? The worker drones don't usually have laptops, or answer personal email during working hours. The techs generally know better which leaves us with the execs. Now, most execs are cluefull (that is actually how they make their way up the old executive ladder), but hubris comes with the territory.
Its their site, their words, their copyright. Honest people should not be copying others copyrighted works. If you don't want to register - then don't. Just don't whine about not getting your "free" news.
As to "why", it is my guess the number of registered users affects the rates paid for their online adds.
As you drive faster you should leave MORE space between you and the car in front of you - the two second rule.
Wrong. The only people who should be liable are the two kids.
The question is, how do such moronic lawsuits get filed?
It is completely ridiculous to sue the game publisher because some moron kids emulated an OBVIOUSLY dangerous act. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Are you going to sue gun manufactures each time some criminal commits a gun crime?
Would such a stupid, frivolous, lawsuit even be possible outside of the litigious USA?
The idea that things were better, cleaner, and closer to nature in the past is just ignorant nostalgia. The last Lion in Europe was killed many hundreds of years ago. It was likely ddestroying the local ecologu that did in the Mayans.
Only an Amerikan would think using deadly force is an appropriate response to a simple trespass. It this attitude, not the just the fact that there are so many guns floting around, that makes guns so dangerous in the USA.
The next Trek, Star Wars, or other book from an established series is more likely to MAKE MONEY than some new,but literate, SF masterpiece. That is why you see shelves filled with various series, and one shelf of new "stand-alone" SF novels. I lay the blame equally at the feet of publishers and the people buying the "safe" books. Only the small presses are interested in advancing the art - the big publishes are only interesting in next quarters profits.
I'm sure many other utilities are similar, but I think the real problem is that with deregulation there is zero incentive to build new reliable infratructure like transmission lines. Why would you spend a penny on a new transmission line when the current one is only 87% utilized 75% of the year? The old monopolies did do this kind of long range planning and upgrading. It still gets done, but not until the last minute.
Free Trade is not flawed, but those who profit from unfair practises never want to give them up.
Kill all the lawyers
It is easy to mock lawyers - until you need one.
The real problem is clueless legislators in thrall to the business world.