"No voting is foolproof. Take your pick of problems"
That's because nobody (including the current crop of DRE vendors) has ever done a comprehensive, scientific study of the voting process. The Open Voting Consortium will conduct just such a study and base the design of its voting system on those results. Remember, the EVM2003 software is just a proof-of-concept for demonstration purposes.
The OVC'sEVM23003 architecture is based on the idea that the paper ballot is the legally binding vote. The hardware/software exist only to ease the voting process, counting, and to secure privacy for the blind & minority language speakers. The OVC FAQ has more info.
In your analogy Diebold is the pick-pocket and the various County Registrars/Secretaries of State are the victims. The problem with your analogy is that normally pick-pocket victims don't seek out the thief. And when the thief picks the victims' pockets, the victims don't normally make excuses for the thief.
One note: EVM2003 is our demo software only. The Open Voting Consortium is the name of the group working on a solution to the black-box voting problem.
Wired, I for one am proud of you. You Googled. You interviewed and quoted real people (instead of just stating the author's opinions as if they were fact). You cited Wikipedia. You even embedded your links! If the rest of the online news sites would just do these simple tasks, the world would be a much better place.;)
The novelty is that your CD player only shuffles one CD's worth of music at a time (or perhaps 6 CDs or so if you have a nice CD player). Digital media combined with dense storage has greatly expanded the idea of a random shuffle.
However, as other have already noted, this has been around since the mp3 format became popular. Doing a random shuffle on a massive collection on a portable device is the only novelty an iPod or a Neuros brings.
So all GnuCash lacks is a button that automagically does the download and import? I assume the export/import procedure is a part of the OFX spec, and I assume you're being honest when you say you're a fan of F/OS Software. If so, why don't you file a detailed feature request?
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You cannot use Gnucash to download transactions from the bank or do bill-pay right from the register.
Have you tried it lately? Here's a snippet from the feature list:
Small Business Accounting Features
Simplify managing a small business with Customer and Vendor tracking, Invoicing and Bill Payment, and Tax and Billing Terms.
OFX Import
GnuCash is the first free software application to support the Open Financial Exchange protocol that many banks and financial services are starting to use.
HBCI Support
GnuCash is the first free software application to support the German Home Banking Computer Information protocol, allowing German users to perform statement download and initiate bank transfers and direct debits.
Improved Import Transaction Matching
The development of OFX and HBCI support has also resulted in an improved transaction matching system that more accurately recognizes duplicate transactions during file import.
Everything else: Look buddy, unless you're going to physically check every voting machine in the country, you are gonna have to trust somebody. Even with paper ballots, the only way that someone as paranoid as yourself is going to be sure if to personally count every ballot yourself. That's the ONLY way to be sure, which is a physical impossibility...
The method being advocated by the OVC proves your statement wrong. In our voting system, the good old fashion, voter-verified PAPER is the legal ballot. Trojan compilers be damned, if the printed paper doesn't match the voter's intentions, red flags get immediately raised.
To prevent vote tabulation fraud, the process requires that a representative from each party be allowed to witness the hand counting of each vote.
In our system, the voting machines are really nice assistants that aid and speed up the voting/tabulation processes. Real human beings participating in peer review are what guaranties the accuracy of the results.
The fact that the paper is the ballot prevents vote buying/extortion. If you take the ballot home, you didn't vote. If you spoil a ballot, you must turn it in as such in order for the printer to be reset to allow you to print a 'good' ballot.
So in either case, if you take a ballot home as 'proof', you didn't vote.
The problem with receipts are that they are not a legally binding vote. For a DRE voting machine (think Diebold, Sequoyah, etc), the vote is what gets recorded electronically. The receipts don't even get looked at unless the race is close enough to force a recount. So if you want to cheat, you just cheat in a big way: >= 10% margins. Note that the individual voters could still 'verify' that the receipt printed matches the vote displayed on the screen. What actually get recorded electronically could still be different!
In the OVC system, the printed paper is the actual legally binding vote. The electronic stuff is there to assist in counting. There are procedures (beta-versions mind you) in place for handling spoiled ballets, ballot stuffing prevention, etc.
Do these people have the attention of legislators and governors?
Yes! The idea is to get research funding (from HAVA) in as many states as possible. The funding will be used to apply the scientific method to the voting process; something that has never been done before. The grand scheme includes creating a F/OSS voting software suit and logical, unified, standardized voting processes that are publicly verifiable throughout.
If you are interested in helping (or seeing what this is all about), please join the OVC e-mailing list. We even have an online archive for public inspection.
Yes, we need as many competing office suites as the market and programming talent pool will support. But in order for it to work, the file formats need to be completely open. Competition is goooooood.
Post-Postscript: According to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of eWEEK, SCO confirmed today (04 March) that this memo is legitimate.
Also, I doubt anyone at SCO is dumb enough to lie Microsoft funding them. IBM dwarfs SCO in terms of lawyers and resources, but Microsoft dwarfs even IBM.
It seems reasonable that switching would be more expensive (and difficult) than starting from scratch. I doubt that switching from Linux to Windows would be a walk in the park either, especially if you had a bunch of "Linux only" apps.
But as others have pointed out, its not the switch that saves you money in the long run, its the choice and freedom of a truely open platform.
Hmm, I don't think so: Debian News mentions a Debian package being faster thanks to O2 instead of O3. Now this has nothing to do with Gentoo as a distro, but are you aware of the best settings for every package you install?
No, I'm not aware of the best settings for every package I install; neither are you or anyone else for that matter. But I am aware that a good compiler + good compile options + prelinking can yield faster performance on the average. That is what Gentoo offers.
Also, quite a lot of distributions compile for >= 586
Great! The more the merrier. However, as a binary distro becomes more mainstream, optimizations become less and less of a option (especially for commercial distros where support costs are a real concern). GCC allows for some fairly fine grained compile options, if that is your choice. That is the main strength of Gentoo; a user has as much choice and freedom to tweek the software as (s)he wants.
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How exactly is tampering with a scratch off the same as tampering with a printed ballot? The scratch off is obviously easier to void.
That's because nobody (including the current crop of DRE vendors) has ever done a comprehensive, scientific study of the voting process. The Open Voting Consortium will conduct just such a study and base the design of its voting system on those results. Remember, the EVM2003 software is just a proof-of-concept for demonstration purposes.
And to 'erase' votes cast for your opponent you simply have to scratch off the remaining scratch areas. There goes your paper trail...
The OVC's EVM23003 architecture is based on the idea that the paper ballot is the legally binding vote. The hardware/software exist only to ease the voting process, counting, and to secure privacy for the blind & minority language speakers. The OVC FAQ has more info.
What could we do to curb this? Would a law requiring 30, 60, or maybe 90 day holding period on all stock purchase help?
In your analogy Diebold is the pick-pocket and the various County Registrars/Secretaries of State are the victims. The problem with your analogy is that normally pick-pocket victims don't seek out the thief. And when the thief picks the victims' pockets, the victims don't normally make excuses for the thief.
One note: EVM2003 is our demo software only. The Open Voting Consortium is the name of the group working on a solution to the black-box voting problem.
Wired, I for one am proud of you. You Googled. You interviewed and quoted real people (instead of just stating the author's opinions as if they were fact). You cited Wikipedia. You even embedded your links! If the rest of the online news sites would just do these simple tasks, the world would be a much better place. ;)
The novelty is that your CD player only shuffles one CD's worth of music at a time (or perhaps 6 CDs or so if you have a nice CD player). Digital media combined with dense storage has greatly expanded the idea of a random shuffle.
However, as other have already noted, this has been around since the mp3 format became popular. Doing a random shuffle on a massive collection on a portable device is the only novelty an iPod or a Neuros brings.
So all GnuCash lacks is a button that automagically does the download and import? I assume the export/import procedure is a part of the OFX spec, and I assume you're being honest when you say you're a fan of F/OS Software. If so, why don't you file a detailed feature request?
This is from their contact page:
Contacting us
Letters to the editor
Send an e-mail to letters@economist.com to comment on any article you have read in The Economist. Unless you state otherwise, e-mail to this address will be considered for publication in The Economist. Don't forget to include your postal address and a daytime telephone number. Please do not use this address for general correspondence.
Alternatively, you can fax your comments to:
+44 20 7839 2968/9
or post them to:
Letters
The Economist
25 St James's Street
London, SW1A 1HG
United Kingdom
Please note, due to the volume of mail we receive, we cannot reply personally to all messages. Published letters will be edited for length and style.
Have you tried it lately? Here's a snippet from the feature list:
That is not neccessarily true, is it? Wouldn't this be similiar to the whole Windows/Lindows/Linspire mess?
The method being advocated by the OVC proves your statement wrong. In our voting system, the good old fashion, voter-verified PAPER is the legal ballot. Trojan compilers be damned, if the printed paper doesn't match the voter's intentions, red flags get immediately raised.
To prevent vote tabulation fraud, the process requires that a representative from each party be allowed to witness the hand counting of each vote.
In our system, the voting machines are really nice assistants that aid and speed up the voting/tabulation processes. Real human beings participating in peer review are what guaranties the accuracy of the results.
I suggest checking out the major GNU/Linux distros that use the RPM system. Mandrake looks particulary good for someone abandoning Redhat.
Of course, I use Gentoo; so this is pure speculation. ;)
Here are the direct links:
The actual press release about homelessness (released today) has nothing to do with RFID tech.
I forgot to mention:
The fact that the paper is the ballot prevents vote buying/extortion. If you take the ballot home, you didn't vote. If you spoil a ballot, you must turn it in as such in order for the printer to be reset to allow you to print a 'good' ballot.
So in either case, if you take a ballot home as 'proof', you didn't vote.
The problem with receipts are that they are not a legally binding vote. For a DRE voting machine (think Diebold, Sequoyah, etc), the vote is what gets recorded electronically. The receipts don't even get looked at unless the race is close enough to force a recount. So if you want to cheat, you just cheat in a big way: >= 10% margins. Note that the individual voters could still 'verify' that the receipt printed matches the vote displayed on the screen. What actually get recorded electronically could still be different!
In the OVC system, the printed paper is the actual legally binding vote. The electronic stuff is there to assist in counting. There are procedures (beta-versions mind you) in place for handling spoiled ballets, ballot stuffing prevention, etc.
Check out the mailing list for more info.
Yes! The idea is to get research funding (from HAVA) in as many states as possible. The funding will be used to apply the scientific method to the voting process; something that has never been done before. The grand scheme includes creating a F/OSS voting software suit and logical, unified, standardized voting processes that are publicly verifiable throughout.
If you are interested in helping (or seeing what this is all about), please join the OVC e-mailing list. We even have an online archive for public inspection.
Yes, we need as many competing office suites as the market and programming talent pool will support. But in order for it to work, the file formats need to be completely open. Competition is goooooood.
This is an error in the Infoworld article; PJ has addressed it in a Groklaw article where she goes on to discuss the future of Groklaw.
The last line of Halloween 10 reads:
Also, I doubt anyone at SCO is dumb enough to lie Microsoft funding them. IBM dwarfs SCO in terms of lawyers and resources, but Microsoft dwarfs even IBM.
It seems reasonable that switching would be more expensive (and difficult) than starting from scratch. I doubt that switching from Linux to Windows would be a walk in the park either, especially if you had a bunch of "Linux only" apps.
But as others have pointed out, its not the switch that saves you money in the long run, its the choice and freedom of a truely open platform.
No, I'm not aware of the best settings for every package I install; neither are you or anyone else for that matter. But I am aware that a good compiler + good compile options + prelinking can yield faster performance on the average. That is what Gentoo offers.
Great! The more the merrier. However, as a binary distro becomes more mainstream, optimizations become less and less of a option (especially for commercial distros where support costs are a real concern). GCC allows for some fairly fine grained compile options, if that is your choice. That is the main strength of Gentoo; a user has as much choice and freedom to tweek the software as (s)he wants.