The thing that makes lotteries tick, even though the expected value is less than you put in, is that money isn't really linear in terms of its value for amount.
The dollar you spend for a ticket has some value, but the million dollar prize has *much* more value to most people than a million one dollar expenses. The individual dollars won't change your lifestyle, whereas the big pay-out will.
Lotteries make more sense if you think of them dollar-sized fantasy packs...Or as a friend used to say "I knew I was an adult when I started buying lottery tickets instead of porn. The fantasies were better, and more likely."
That's the reason that the ballots are printed on two-part perforated forms. The vote section is detached and placed in the ballot box. The tracking portion is kept for audit. I'm not sure (never bothered to notice) if the tracking part is associated with the voter, or just used to count which ballots went out.
I don't know where this idea of standing in line for months when you get sick comes from. My experience has been radically different.
Yes, you wait for stuff that's not getting worse, or won't be any harder to treat if it waits. That's a fact of life; however, everything that needs to be treated *now*, is. For example, from detecting a glitch in my eyesight to treatment was under 3 weeks, including 5 appointments with different health professionals and some business travel on my part (I don't work in the city I live in). That's pretty impressive for something non-life threatenning.
And although I pay a bucketful of taxes, I actually feel I'm getting something for it. You might want to try living in the US, where they take nearly as much but give wars in Iraq and fraudulent voting machines with it instead of health care...
It's a tech company - the reality is that there are only two sources of value in a tech company: intellectual property and people.
I'll refrain from commenting on SCO's employees; their IP is what's at stake.
Dismantling really doesn't mean much in that context.
Bumbs don't come as threats, they come as buy-outs. When the flight is still overbooked at the last minute, they start offering, until there are enough takers: the next flight, the next flight plus coupons, the next flight plus cash, then more cash. Hold out for the cash.
Bah. When I was a kid all I had was Turbo Pascal Version 2, and I liked it. Complete with the "press 1 to compile, 2 to edit" classic menu interface:-)
The key to paper ballot accuracy is *local* counting. Here in Canada, ballots are counted at the polling station at the close of voting, by a multi-partisan committee - I believe each candidate is allowed to provide someone for each station.
That helps in a number of ways:
1. There are relatively few votes at a polling station to count - several thousand, max.
2. There are *many* eyes supervising a *short* counting session, allowing counters and verifiers to remain focused.
In any system where the ballots (in boxes or not) are moved before counting (which I understand is common in the US) fraud is much easier: ballot boxes can disappear or be replaced in transit, centralized counting require much longer attention spans, non-partisan counters are almost certainly not, and so on.
Regarding electronic voting, sure, use a machine, but make the machine generate a voter-verifiable paper ballot. Insist that ballots be counted at the polling station *immediately* at the close of the polls, confirming the electronic result.
Anything else and I'm not sure your votes mean anything.
You can expect a slightly higher start for specific domain knowledge than someone without, but it's not that huge - certainly nowhere enough to make up the difference of 5-8 years of experience. But if you play your cards right, and don't make an idiot of yourself (in other words listen more than speak) the ramp should be pretty steep.
And I am unlikely to hire someone with an ABD for any job for which I'd consider a Ph.D. I've known quite a few ABDs from my time in school, and the universal trait was a lack of ability to focus on their problem for more than a few months. Ph.Ds are about persistence.
I disagree: if you walk into your job acting like an ivory tower egghead, then yes. The the key is to realize that you really know *squat* about the business you're starting in, and take some time to learn. You are however a domain expert in your field, and that may well be why you were hired. Don't speak before you know about the non-domain issues (including legacy issues) that have to be dealt with.
Yes, I have a Ph.D. in computer science. Yes, I got a great job from it. But the Ph.D. is not an instant credibility pill - you have to build your credibility the same way as anyone else.
Math texts rarely manage to give insight into what's going on at a level sufficient to solve problems. The reason is that it's hard to get the insight until you understand the mechanics, and hard to want to get the mechanics without an understand - a nasty education catch-22.
The solution that most math texts take then is to give you *lots* of problems/drills so that the mechanics get ingrained, allowing the insight to come later.
When I screwed up my second year calculus course *really* badly (like 6% on the midterm...) I used a Schaum's Outline to get back on track (and eventually ace the final). It's main benefit is *heaps* of problems to work through. That made me a convert to the problems approach to math teaching.
The key is to do all the problems, in order.
That said, I can't really recommend one math text over another, just so long as there are lots of problems, and hopefully a solution key in the back for at least half the excercises.
The missing element here is counting the ballots *at the polling station*
Paper ballots provide an audit trail, but the ballot boxes themselves can (and have) been tampered with.
The only useful purpose served by an electronic system is a "quick tally", and possibly less chance of a spoiled ballot, although butterfly-ballot like errors can be set up on a touchscreen as easily as on paper.
Providing a count at the polling place, by a multi-partisan local group (each candidate should be able to produce someone to go to each polling place) reduces the chance of fraud dramatically. Make the hand count the official tally, and the electronic count used only for quick totals.
For a little more accountability, apply modern cryptography to tie paper ballots to their electronic counterparts for cross-checking if required. Make a recount and cross-check mandatory for narrow spreads or manual/electronic dissagreements.
Demand voter-verified, locally counted paper ballots.
One clarification: The french were in Quebec *long* before the English came by and conquered. There is more history of French occupation of Quebec than of English occupation of the rest of the continent. I dare say you should be telling the Anglos to go home, not the french.
Mind you, people are so much into rewriting history these days. Cultural imperialism is imperialism just as much as that done with guns.
However, every other province, excepting New Brunswick, has chosen to promote only English, over French.
Where I come from turnaround is fair play
And your analogy is actually being told that you can't go to a spanish school unless your mother tongue is spanish - an option I believe is not available to anyone in New Mexico.
Double sided printing should increase the accuracy: Now each strip has about 4 edges of information to help sort them by, even if you do have to account for flipping the strip over.
Slashdot Mirror
I thought that was Pheonix...
The dollar you spend for a ticket has some value, but the million dollar prize has *much* more value to most people than a million one dollar expenses. The individual dollars won't change your lifestyle, whereas the big pay-out will.
Lotteries make more sense if you think of them dollar-sized fantasy packs...Or as a friend used to say "I knew I was an adult when I started buying lottery tickets instead of porn. The fantasies were better, and more likely."
Paul
I don't know where this idea of standing in line for months when you get sick comes from. My experience has been radically different. Yes, you wait for stuff that's not getting worse, or won't be any harder to treat if it waits. That's a fact of life; however, everything that needs to be treated *now*, is. For example, from detecting a glitch in my eyesight to treatment was under 3 weeks, including 5 appointments with different health professionals and some business travel on my part (I don't work in the city I live in). That's pretty impressive for something non-life threatenning. And although I pay a bucketful of taxes, I actually feel I'm getting something for it. You might want to try living in the US, where they take nearly as much but give wars in Iraq and fraudulent voting machines with it instead of health care...
Canada weather is nice today. But you try living in Austria in 1939.
Dismantling really doesn't mean much in that context.
Bumbs don't come as threats, they come as buy-outs. When the flight is still overbooked at the last minute, they start offering, until there are enough takers: the next flight, the next flight plus coupons, the next flight plus cash, then more cash. Hold out for the cash.
Not to be confused with Toast and Accomodation
Bah. When I was a kid all I had was Turbo Pascal Version 2, and I liked it. Complete with the "press 1 to compile, 2 to edit" classic menu interface :-)
That helps in a number of ways:
1. There are relatively few votes at a polling station to count - several thousand, max.
2. There are *many* eyes supervising a *short* counting session, allowing counters and verifiers to remain focused.
In any system where the ballots (in boxes or not) are moved before counting (which I understand is common in the US) fraud is much easier: ballot boxes can disappear or be replaced in transit, centralized counting require much longer attention spans, non-partisan counters are almost certainly not, and so on.
Regarding electronic voting, sure, use a machine, but make the machine generate a voter-verifiable paper ballot. Insist that ballots be counted at the polling station *immediately* at the close of the polls, confirming the electronic result.
Anything else and I'm not sure your votes mean anything.
But you can repair a 1940 roaster yourself, and machine parts if you can't find them. I don't think MS wants you reverse engineering their products.
I wish I'd thought of that years ago. Had I mod points you'd have one!
I even agree with the +1 funny, but yes. Doing something for yourself instead of the man is what having a life is about.
You can expect a slightly higher start for specific domain knowledge than someone without, but it's not that huge - certainly nowhere enough to make up the difference of 5-8 years of experience. But if you play your cards right, and don't make an idiot of yourself (in other words listen more than speak) the ramp should be pretty steep.
There is *no* better point to a PhD.
It's called having a life.
And I am unlikely to hire someone with an ABD for any job for which I'd consider a Ph.D. I've known quite a few ABDs from my time in school, and the universal trait was a lack of ability to focus on their problem for more than a few months. Ph.Ds are about persistence.
Yes, I have a Ph.D. in computer science. Yes, I got a great job from it. But the Ph.D. is not an instant credibility pill - you have to build your credibility the same way as anyone else.
They act like a bank, but without the consumer protections. Until they are forced to be a registered bank you are just asking for trouble.
In the USA the little guy has *no* chance.
The solution that most math texts take then is to give you *lots* of problems/drills so that the mechanics get ingrained, allowing the insight to come later.
When I screwed up my second year calculus course *really* badly (like 6% on the midterm...) I used a Schaum's Outline to get back on track (and eventually ace the final). It's main benefit is *heaps* of problems to work through. That made me a convert to the problems approach to math teaching.
The key is to do all the problems, in order.
That said, I can't really recommend one math text over another, just so long as there are lots of problems, and hopefully a solution key in the back for at least half the excercises.
Paper ballots provide an audit trail, but the ballot boxes themselves can (and have) been tampered with.
The only useful purpose served by an electronic system is a "quick tally", and possibly less chance of a spoiled ballot, although butterfly-ballot like errors can be set up on a touchscreen as easily as on paper.
Providing a count at the polling place, by a multi-partisan local group (each candidate should be able to produce someone to go to each polling place) reduces the chance of fraud dramatically. Make the hand count the official tally, and the electronic count used only for quick totals.
For a little more accountability, apply modern cryptography to tie paper ballots to their electronic counterparts for cross-checking if required. Make a recount and cross-check mandatory for narrow spreads or manual/electronic dissagreements.
Demand voter-verified, locally counted paper ballots.
Mind you, people are so much into rewriting history these days. Cultural imperialism is imperialism just as much as that done with guns.
Where I come from turnaround is fair play
And your analogy is actually being told that you can't go to a spanish school unless your mother tongue is spanish - an option I believe is not available to anyone in New Mexico.
I knew the rugrats had a use. Might have to get some now - I understand the up-front costs can be less than the shredder.
Double sided printing should increase the accuracy: Now each strip has about 4 edges of information to help sort them by, even if you do have to account for flipping the strip over.