I remember reading somewhere that a few buggy voting machines in a backwater county (NC?) were found to be "resetting" when they tallied over 32,767(?) votes for a candidate - i.e. an overflow error.
As a result, certain precincts that swung heavily for a candidate would end up going the other way after that candidate's votes went over the limit, rolling back to zero. Sounds too stupid to be true [why would they only allocate 8 bits of memory to the vote counting???], but that's what I read somewhere.
So...maybe what happened here is that "they" had the "backdoor" coded to look like this bug. That way, blame could never be directly assigned if it was detected....
That said, Online Journal appears to be the "Liberal NewsMax" so it's difficult to take this report at face value without some sort of accredited, independent verfication (good luck). What's interesting is that the author seems more concerned with the sordid details of how the funding for a "Visual Basic 5 to be ported to Unix" [Note: o_0??] prototype (Erm...why didn't he just write a check? Them Oilmen got a lot of the green stuff).
[The preceding is conjecture and from memory - I'm sure my fellow/.'ers will fetch the appropriate links:P]
Noticed a fallacy in the "Bug List" under Item #5 - URL Naming Bug. The History of this bug reads:
People separated written words with spaces from the time writing was invented up until around 30 years ago whenaspacebecameavaluableobjectnottobewasted.
Not true. It is well-established that ancient Greek (as well as many other classical languages) was written with no spaces between words.
SOATYPICALSENTENCEWOULDREADLIKETHIS!
Everyone, take note...
on
NYT on EA Games
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Take note: this is how labor unions got their start "back in the day."
Eventually, the coders will together and realize that without them, senior management is fucked. And I don't want to hear any shit about exporting the jobs to India or where-ever. The studios making these games can't do it because the quailty would be worse, they'd lose control, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, they are probably already working on a "pre-emptive" outsourcing, so coders better wise-up and organize before it's too late...
Political parties are using consumer shopping patterns to figure out who to reach with 1-to-1 political messages.
Stuff like: women who buy from catalogs, eat "crunchy" peanut butter, own a cat and drive a minivan you are 87% more likely to react positively to prayer in schools as a "motivating issue."
I just made that up, but it's the sort of thing they find out. No tin-foil hats here - corporations and pollsters are shelling out millions of dollars for this stuff.
Here's a few google searches links to get you started:
I. Wall Street has volume in the hundreds of millions per hour. Every transaction must be documented and has a paper trail (or backup report) somewhere, and every participant can be held accountable. Failure to comply with the law can and does result in jail time for offenders.
II. We have a world-wide network of ATM machines. Each produces a paper receipt, often with an internal duplicate copy for auditing purposes. Each customer has a unique network ID and a secret PIN. Many systems automatically detects fraud-like activity automatically notify customers via cell-phone within one minute of transaction being completed. Again: hundreds-of-thousands, even millions, of transactions happening hourly.
III. The Federal Reserve processes millions of "paper ballots" (cheques) daily. Each "ballot" is optically scanned and routed to the correct party, with errors approaching zero. Fair system: errors totaling 0.01 dollars or greater are penalized with a monetary fine. 100% accuracy rate built-in and required by law.
Even during the 9/11 terrorist attack, the New York Federal Reserve - one block from WTC - managed move their operation to New Jersey and complete day's "ballot" processing.
Conclusion #1 "Help" America Vote Act is Orwellian double-speak at its finest. Federal Elections demand a Federal Employees, Federal Training, Federal Standard. We can have separate elections with their own method for local/state/federal offices. State/Local constitutions can easily be amended to this end - should be uncontroversial.
Federal elections should be fully staffed and trained, just like the TSA (Transportaion Security Administration). Some will argue that Federal Government is wrong solution for problem and will advocate private corporations as a solution. Some people are morons. TSA is many magnitudes superior to pre-existing private security (equivalent: Diebold), which allowed 9/11 slaughter. At the very least, system can be audited without resorting to lawsuit.
Conclusion #2 As with securities exchange, ATM, Federal Reserve examples cited above, electoral process can & should have accuracy approaching 100% accuracy and same-day efficiency. Primary obstacle is lack of incentive. All examples cited involve monetary transactions, which Americans are notorious for valuing above Liberty.
Ergo, values of average politician/American must change to value liberty. Of course, the only party that can change things is the party in power, and as long as they are in power "the system works" (Note: not a cut at any particular party, as this cuts both ways).
Real change will only occur after nation-destroying election scandal and ensuing violent revolution. Call me an optimist.
Unfortunately, many choose ruminate about voter irregularities as being part of a imperfect, but practical, system. We often hear these folks, when confronted with vote tally irregularies, shake their head and sigh "perhaps we'll never know for sure."
This attitude is completely unacceptable when elections are being decided by 1,000 votes out of 2 million.
Consider: If my employer's Daily Statement of Condition was off by $1,000 out of $2MM, and I told our Controller that "perhaps we'll never know" why the difference existed, I would be fired immediately.
It's mind-blowing that certain parties feel this is acceptable standard for United States electoral system.
Problem: how to make voting analogous to monetary transactions?
A MODEST PROPOSAL Make the election a lottery. Ten lucky voters get $10,000,000 tax-free. Winning chances would be better than "Powerball," which has far more than 100,000,000 tickets and odds of winning approaching zero. Turnout would easily top 60% each election, and voters would demand election integrity to ensure their chance for jackpot.
This is a no-brainer proposition that will never become reality in current America. Sometimes genius isn't a
Washington, DC is so liberal that it turned to a pale shade of green!
Actually Washington DC isn't really "Liberal" - it's overwhelmingly (60%) African-American, and they tend to vote for Democrats over Republicans 10-to-1.
Interesting, studies have found that Blacks have socially conservative values similar to those found in "Red" states
The election is over The results are known The will of the people has clearly been shown!
So let's forget our quarrels And show by good deed That we'll give our new leaders All the help that they need
Let's let bygones be bygones And let bitterness pass I'll hug your Elephant And you kiss my...Donkey!;)
In all seriousness...can somebody post the text of that Bush loyalty oath? Since/. skews left, I think we'll need to get a head start on memorizing it:(
If Bush loses the Electoral Vote and wins the Popular vote - as many are projecting because of the expected record turnout in states already "locked" (Texas, Georgia, etc.) - will Republicans still laud the Distinct Wisdom of our Founding Fathers as they did back in 2000? Or will they be calling for the abolition of a Wretched Anachronism that ignores The Will of the People?
I first heard about this at the Fifth H.O.P.E conference in NY over the summer. During the Cult of the Dead Cow Hactivism panel, one of the panelists - a hacker-researcher from Toronto - reported that many foreign countries blocked the URLs of legitimate political sites due to the sexual connotations of the word "Bush."
Similarly, sites containing the words "teen" in their URL were being blocked too. All in all, it was pretty amusing.
Pudge cleared this up back on October 7th: "The Republican party is relying on state parties to hire the lawyers, if necessary." See? The GOP isn't planning anything above the local level. If pudgy says it, it must be true!
So clearly there's no story here. Move along, folks.
The Republican party is relying on state parties to hire the lawyers, if necessary.
This is a blatant lie. Only a few days ago, my wife recieved the following email from BC04 (lord knows why she's on their mailing list, but she is):
From: "Tom Josefiak" [BushCheney04@GeorgeWBush.com] To: [MrsVR] Subject: Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Recount
Dear [MrsVR],
You have probably never heard my name. I'm one of many people who work tirelessly behind the scenes on behalf of the President's campaign. I make sure we carefully follow the law in everything we do.
In 2000, I was in Florida for the recount and remember the attacks we had to fend off in order to protect the result of a fair election from the efforts to steal it. If we had not had the support of many, many generous individuals who made contributions to our recount effort, we would not have been successful. We must start now to make sure we have the resources to defend the outcome of this election. Will you help me by making a donation to our General Election Legal and Compliance Account?
www.GeorgeWBush.com/GELAC
The election of 2000 was difficult not just for the campaigns but for our country. Florida became the center of a battle for our Democracy. This year, I am concerned about similar efforts by those who would try to adjust the outcome of the election after the polls have closed. This year we may face similar fights not just in Florida, but in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Mexico and other critical states.
By raising money for our GELAC fund, we will prepare early for any unforeseen events that may affect the outcome of the election. We will ensure that we are able to prevent any attempt to alter the outcome of the vote and any effort to suppress the voice of the voters.
www.GeorgeWBush.com/GELAC
I have spent many years in politics and have seen efforts to subvert the vote take many forms - from the manipulation of polling locations to the efforts we saw in Florida to make an end run around the state Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. Frankly, I am very tired, and hope we will not have to fight off more attacks on the people's will. The outcome of the election should be decided by voters not lawyers! But I suspect we will see more efforts by those who lost the election to change the rules so they can win.
With your help, we will ensure this does not happen.
www.GeorgeWBush.com/GELAC
I know you have been asked for donations a lot, and I, too, have given again and again. But I'll be making one more contribution - and I ask you to join me. Give all that you can, so if we have to fight for Florida, or any other state, we will have what we need to win.
Thanks,
Tom Josefiak General Counsel Bush-Cheney 04, Inc.
P.S. In 2000, I was in Florida and remember the attacks we had to fend off in order to protect the result of a fair election. We must start now to make sure we have the resources to defend the outcome of this election if it comes under attack. Will you help me by making a donation to our General Election Legal and Compliance Account? www.GeorgeWBush.com/GELAC
When I was in middle school, I used to hear kids bragging to each other all the time about how many signs they had trashed/stolen (I lived in Texas at the time, so they happened to be trashing Clinton/Gore or Dukakis/Benson signs).
Now we have SMS, IM and email to make things more organized, so it's happening more frequently. Big whoop. I really doubt that some local party boss is ordering his foot soldiers to go out and round up opposition signs. I'm sure they've got better things to do.
Fahrenheit 911 is OK but this isn't? Doesn't that sound a little hypocritical?
It's not hypocritical. People who see F9/11 are voluntarily paying $10 per movie ticket / $15+ per DVD to watch it. Plus, they have to make the decision to go out to the local cinema/video store to view/obtain it. Much more time-consuming that simply flipping on your television.
There would only be hypocrisy if F9/11 was being broadcast for free on television. But that's not the case.
Obviously, that comment was toungue-in-cheek (although from what I understand, LGF comments are an entirely different matter).
[Ok, now I have to ruin the joke by explaining it]
I understand the gist of LGF is: Muslim culture is corrupt (or whatever) and many terrorists commit acts in the
Although it's not a 1-to-1 analogy, a similar justification was used for persecuting the Jewish people in the 20th century - i.e. that many (literally) bomb-throwing Socialists/Anarchists/Communists happened to be Jewish.
Similarly, certain people are using the acts of a violent minority to characterize an entire people or religion. Obviously, this is - for lack of a better word - retarded.
Again, as I understand it, LGF commenters regularly evoke images of mass-slaughter of Muslims - something the site's proprieter condones while regularly deleting blocking criticism of the same. So, while it's not as bad as an overtly racist site like Stormfront or whatever, it still is in the same direction - i.e. bigoted/small-minded
Slashdot Mirror
Headline: New Vulnerability Affects All Browsers
*SIGH* when are all those...um...browser users going to realize that they should just switch to...umm...no...other browser?
I mean, don't they get sick of...all...their browsers getting...I mean....hmmm
Huh.
I remember reading somewhere that a few buggy voting machines in a backwater county (NC?) were found to be "resetting" when they tallied over 32,767(?) votes for a candidate - i.e. an overflow error.
/.'ers will fetch the appropriate links :P]
As a result, certain precincts that swung heavily for a candidate would end up going the other way after that candidate's votes went over the limit, rolling back to zero. Sounds too stupid to be true [why would they only allocate 8 bits of memory to the vote counting???], but that's what I read somewhere.
So...maybe what happened here is that "they" had the "backdoor" coded to look like this bug. That way, blame could never be directly assigned if it was detected....
That said, Online Journal appears to be the "Liberal NewsMax" so it's difficult to take this report at face value without some sort of accredited, independent verfication (good luck). What's interesting is that the author seems more concerned with the sordid details of how the funding for a "Visual Basic 5 to be ported to Unix" [Note: o_0??] prototype (Erm...why didn't he just write a check? Them Oilmen got a lot of the green stuff).
[The preceding is conjecture and from memory - I'm sure my fellow
SOATYPICALSENTENCEWOULDREADLIKETHIS!
Take note: this is how labor unions got their start "back in the day."
Eventually, the coders will together and realize that without them, senior management is fucked. And I don't want to hear any shit about exporting the jobs to India or where-ever. The studios making these games can't do it because the quailty would be worse, they'd lose control, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, they are probably already working on a "pre-emptive" outsourcing, so coders better wise-up and organize before it's too late...
Political parties are using consumer shopping patterns to figure out who to reach with 1-to-1 political messages.
Stuff like: women who buy from catalogs, eat "crunchy" peanut butter, own a cat and drive a minivan you are 87% more likely to react positively to prayer in schools as a "motivating issue."
I just made that up, but it's the sort of thing they find out. No tin-foil hats here - corporations and pollsters are shelling out millions of dollars for this stuff.
Here's a few google searches links to get you started:
Acxiom
Seisint
I.
Wall Street has volume in the hundreds of millions per hour. Every transaction must be documented and has a paper trail (or backup report) somewhere, and every participant can be held accountable. Failure to comply with the law can and does result in jail time for offenders.
II.
We have a world-wide network of ATM machines. Each produces a paper receipt, often with an internal duplicate copy for auditing purposes. Each customer has a unique network ID and a secret PIN. Many systems automatically detects fraud-like activity automatically notify customers via cell-phone within one minute of transaction being completed. Again: hundreds-of-thousands, even millions, of transactions happening hourly.
III.
The Federal Reserve processes millions of "paper ballots" (cheques) daily. Each "ballot" is optically scanned and routed to the correct party, with errors approaching zero. Fair system: errors totaling 0.01 dollars or greater are penalized with a monetary fine. 100% accuracy rate built-in and required by law.
Even during the 9/11 terrorist attack, the New York Federal Reserve - one block from WTC - managed move their operation to New Jersey and complete day's "ballot" processing.
Conclusion #1
"Help" America Vote Act is Orwellian double-speak at its finest. Federal Elections demand a Federal Employees, Federal Training, Federal Standard. We can have separate elections with their own method for local/state/federal offices. State/Local constitutions can easily be amended to this end - should be uncontroversial.
Federal elections should be fully staffed and trained, just like the TSA (Transportaion Security Administration). Some will argue that Federal Government is wrong solution for problem and will advocate private corporations as a solution. Some people are morons. TSA is many magnitudes superior to pre-existing private security (equivalent: Diebold), which allowed 9/11 slaughter. At the very least, system can be audited without resorting to lawsuit.
Conclusion #2
As with securities exchange, ATM, Federal Reserve examples cited above, electoral process can & should have accuracy approaching 100% accuracy and same-day efficiency. Primary obstacle is lack of incentive. All examples cited involve monetary transactions, which Americans are notorious for valuing above Liberty.
Ergo, values of average politician/American must change to value liberty. Of course, the only party that can change things is the party in power, and as long as they are in power "the system works" (Note: not a cut at any particular party, as this cuts both ways).
Real change will only occur after nation-destroying election scandal and ensuing violent revolution. Call me an optimist.
Unfortunately, many choose ruminate about voter irregularities as being part of a imperfect, but practical, system. We often hear these folks, when confronted with vote tally irregularies, shake their head and sigh "perhaps we'll never know for sure."
This attitude is completely unacceptable when elections are being decided by 1,000 votes out of 2 million.
Consider:
If my employer's Daily Statement of Condition was off by $1,000 out of $2MM, and I told our Controller that "perhaps we'll never know" why the difference existed, I would be fired immediately.
It's mind-blowing that certain parties feel this is acceptable standard for United States electoral system.
Problem: how to make voting analogous to monetary transactions?
A MODEST PROPOSAL
Make the election a lottery. Ten lucky voters get $10,000,000 tax-free. Winning chances would be better than "Powerball," which has far more than 100,000,000 tickets and odds of winning approaching zero. Turnout would easily top 60% each election, and voters would demand election integrity to ensure their chance for jackpot.
This is a no-brainer proposition that will never become reality in current America. Sometimes genius isn't a
Washington, DC is so liberal that it turned to a pale shade of green!
Actually Washington DC isn't really "Liberal" - it's overwhelmingly (60%) African-American, and they tend to vote for Democrats over Republicans 10-to-1.
Interesting, studies have found that Blacks have socially conservative values similar to those found in "Red" states
Sorry, but I've got one more:
:-\
Purple Mountain Majesties
America isn't really "Red" or "Blue." It's Purple.
Well, aside from Utah, anyway
Take this map of the United States at Night and superimpose it over a map of "Red/Blue" Counties
Notice anything?
The election is over
;)
/. skews left, I think we'll need to get a head start on memorizing it :(
The results are known
The will of the people
has clearly been shown!
So let's forget our quarrels
And show by good deed
That we'll give our new leaders
All the help that they need
Let's let bygones be bygones
And let bitterness pass
I'll hug your Elephant
And you kiss my...Donkey!
In all seriousness...can somebody post the text of that Bush loyalty oath? Since
I was looking forward to the recount-induced riots and looting...
:(
I had my eye on this awesome 17" flatscreen display down at Staples
PUDGE JE: Please Do Not Vote
Remember, this is one slashdot editor that supports Democracy!
If Bush loses the Electoral Vote and wins the Popular vote - as many are projecting because of the expected record turnout in states already "locked" (Texas, Georgia, etc.) - will Republicans still laud the Distinct Wisdom of our Founding Fathers as they did back in 2000? Or will they be calling for the abolition of a Wretched Anachronism that ignores The Will of the People?
I wonder...
I first heard about this at the Fifth H.O.P.E conference in NY over the summer. During the Cult of the Dead Cow Hactivism panel, one of the panelists - a hacker-researcher from Toronto - reported that many foreign countries blocked the URLs of legitimate political sites due to the sexual connotations of the word "Bush."
Similarly, sites containing the words "teen" in their URL were being blocked too. All in all, it was pretty amusing.
Pudge cleared this up back on October 7th: "The Republican party is relying on state parties to hire the lawyers, if necessary." See? The GOP isn't planning anything above the local level. If pudgy says it, it must be true!
So clearly there's no story here. Move along, folks.
The Republican party is relying on state parties to hire the lawyers, if necessary.
This is a blatant lie. Only a few days ago, my wife recieved the following email from BC04 (lord knows why she's on their mailing list, but she is):
What a joke.
When I was in middle school, I used to hear kids bragging to each other all the time about how many signs they had trashed/stolen (I lived in Texas at the time, so they happened to be trashing Clinton/Gore or Dukakis/Benson signs).
Now we have SMS, IM and email to make things more organized, so it's happening more frequently. Big whoop. I really doubt that some local party boss is ordering his foot soldiers to go out and round up opposition signs. I'm sure they've got better things to do.
Fahrenheit 911 is OK but this isn't? Doesn't that sound a little hypocritical?
It's not hypocritical. People who see F9/11 are voluntarily paying $10 per movie ticket / $15+ per DVD to watch it. Plus, they have to make the decision to go out to the local cinema/video store to view/obtain it. Much more time-consuming that simply flipping on your television.
There would only be hypocrisy if F9/11 was being broadcast for free on television. But that's not the case.
Hm? LGF isn't a white supremacist site.
Obviously, that comment was toungue-in-cheek (although from what I understand, LGF comments are an entirely different matter).
[Ok, now I have to ruin the joke by explaining it]
I understand the gist of LGF is: Muslim culture is corrupt (or whatever) and many terrorists commit acts in the
Although it's not a 1-to-1 analogy, a similar justification was used for persecuting the Jewish people in the 20th century - i.e. that many (literally) bomb-throwing Socialists/Anarchists/Communists happened to be Jewish.
Similarly, certain people are using the acts of a violent minority to characterize an entire people or religion. Obviously, this is - for lack of a better word - retarded.
Again, as I understand it, LGF commenters regularly evoke images of mass-slaughter of Muslims - something the site's proprieter condones while regularly deleting blocking criticism of the same. So, while it's not as bad as an overtly racist site like Stormfront or whatever, it still is in the same direction - i.e. bigoted/small-minded
Nice try, but I saw it on a t-shirt sold by sinful shirts. Oops, it's not there anymore...oh well.
As for Little Green Foozballs...no I don't visit white supremacist sites, thankyouverymuch.
And BTW it's more like Bush '00, draft RIGHT NOW
/here come the OT downmods
...all those unemployed folks are making up for it by selling beanie babies on eBay! Problem solved.
/hey, Cheney said it, not me
Yeah, bet you won't see that pic on any internet dating sites any time soon *shudder*
One of my friends was just married to a woman that he met on JDate.com
:P
Quote: "Highly recommended."
Unfortunately, I don't have any more to add to the anecdote. Happily, I'm married so I don't have to use it
Also, don't rule out Friendster.
WTF?!? I got modbombed!!!
***WHINE***
Hehehe...Karma still "Excellent."
:D
See ya in the M2 Buddy