The challenge of course would be: 1) ensuring everyone only got one vote, (say, through the use of a hardware keygen or something)
Ahh yes, because digital electronic security is something the human race is capable of.
Listen: Any time you introduce leverage into a voting system (like digital electronic vote counting, for example), that exact same leverage can be used to game the system.
Let the vote be counted by human hands. I'm willing to wait for it. Who's with me?
I need to leave my desktop computer on all night for backups and virus scans. Otherwise, my computer is inevitably downloading something, processing or rendering something, or otherwise doing a job for me.
My laptop, on the other hand, sleeps constantly.:-)
Pick up the DVD and watch the movies with the "Director/Writers" commentary track on. You will discover that Jackson, Walsh, & Boyens know the story to a T, and if they are ever uncertain they can reference the book in a mere minute. They justify all of their adaptations. If you can watch that commentary track and still not respect the film, well.. I guess that's you then.
The reason I'm not using power management features is because every night, my computer needs to be awake for virus scans and backups (both making and receiving). I imagine many users are in the same boat. Power management needs to be flexible enough to accomodate these tasks, as well as the occasional vnc-in after hours.
Let's let the private sector explore space.
on
NASA Weighs Moon Plans
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I am about the most nerdy, curious, star trek fan person in town. There is nothing more fascinating to me than exploring the universe. However, I'm completely opposed to using government funds to send people into space.
Let's let the private sector explore space.
People talk about the "benefits" of the space program, like plastics! Great, an oil-consuming product that takes hundreds of thousands of years to bio-degrade. If that's not progress, I don't know what is!
Resources on Earth are very limited. We all work very hard to pay our taxes. Let's let the private sector lead the way into this exciting new place!
It's sort of a chicken and egg problem (why should I bother to encrypt *my* email if there is no one to exchange it with?), and the answer is definitely integration. Imagine if gmail integrated PGP - we'd suddenly have a whole bunch of PGP users to exchange messages with.
I know there are sites like hushmail.com but we need to get an existing userbase setup with encryption, and everything has to be automatic.
Unfortunately, I'm in no position to organize such a thing.
Assuming a typical linux distro with the typical set of apps - if you were to compile in all the dependencies, how much extra space are we really talking about? Ten MB? Ten GB? One hundred GB?
I could live with 10GB of space used up for dependencies if it means less headaches. At around $1/GB, that's a very small price to pay for peace.
In the polling place there will be a station with a scanner where you can have the barcode scanned while you're wearing headphones so you can hear your selections read to you. The ballot does not have to be removed from the folder; your privacy is assured. Then you go to the ballot box for depositing of your ballot.
How do you know the code running on that scanner is the same code that ultimately counts the votes? How do you know that the scanner won't read your ballot the way you intend, but ultimately mark your vote for other candidates? You can't know because the process is invisible. If you think that any amount of security can prevent this, have a look at such successful endeavors as "CSS." Do you *really* trust election officials to be responsible for a vote counting system that cannot be observed? (i.e., any electronic counting system)
The counting of votes absolutely must be observed by 3rd parties. Any other solution is absolutely, 100% unacceptable.
Judicial (the courts, which are populated with career-long judges that are typically in office well past the duration of the administration that nominated them, which usually means a pretty mixed group, philosophically)
Note that 7 of the current 9 justices have been appointed by Republicans.
If you want to call that "a pretty mixed group..."
Barcodes sound GREAT - easy for a computer to read, and since democracy isn't worth the time it takes to count votes by hand, we can get things done really quickly. Now that is progress!
The problem with a barcode is that the barcode may not read the way the voter intended. The computer that counts the barcode votes may not count without error.
The only acceptable voting mechanism is one in which the counting of votes can be observed. Any electronic system makes this an impossibility.
It might take a couple hours to count paper ballots by hand and call in the results, but that is an acceptable price for democracy. Progress for the sake of progress is never wise.
There will always be a little bit of fraud and error. But by counting ballots by hand makes fraud on a massive scale very difficult.
Let me ask you this: how do you know that the printer printed your vote as you intended? If you didn't even know there was a paper trail, then I am going to guess that it wasn't a voter verified paper trail.
What if the "error" is not so obvious as to warrant a paper recount - what if the votes are changed just enough so that one party wins without much suspicion? Will anyone know the votes have been tampered with?
Paper and pen is the best way to vote. Sure, there will always be a little bit of fraud, but fraud on a massive scale then becomes very difficult.
Ever notice how many people use those automatic door opening buttons designed for people who use wheelchairs?
It's awfully convenient when your hands are full - even for a person who has complete use of their arms/legs.
Most accomodations designed to benefit people who have physical/mental challenges actually benefit everyone.
While I'm often weary of government intervention, there just seem to be certain problems that only government intervention can solve. For example, it used to be legal to smoke in a NY State pub. You might think that if there was demand for a smoke-free pub, such a place would exist, but believe me - NO such place existed. If you wanted to drink, you also breathed in smoke, and that was just the way things were. Now it is not legal to smoke in a NY State pub, and I have to confess that it is probably one of the most wonderful things that ever happened for me. My quality of life has gone way up - not just because I like to have a drink once and a while, but because the restaurants that adjoin these pubs are now also smoke-free. Now going out to eat is a geniunely pleasant experience. Personally, my patronage has skyrocketed.
I know it's always a slippery slope, but unfettered capitalism might as well be fuedalism.
The primary purpose of this proposed rule is to prevent passengers that have been identified as high-risk on government watchlists from boarding aircraft bound for or departing from the United States
I think the problem is that getting onto one of these "watchlists" is not particularly hard. Who decides who gets on the list? If you are on such a list, would you know it? Would you have any opportunity to challenge your presence on the list? How hard would it be to declare someone on such a list to be an "unlawful enemy combatant," and thus make them eligible for torture, a military court trial, etc.?
I am not sure how we are going to repeal all of these laws once the current administration is out of power. It's going to be nearly impossible.
Slashdot Mirror
The challenge of course would be:
1) ensuring everyone only got one vote, (say, through the use of a hardware keygen or something)
Ahh yes, because digital electronic security is something the human race is capable of.
Listen: Any time you introduce leverage into a voting system (like digital electronic vote counting, for example), that exact same leverage can be used to game the system.
Let the vote be counted by human hands. I'm willing to wait for it. Who's with me?
The counting of votes must be observed by humans. Since people can't see electrons moving, no electronic vote counting should ever take place.
I'm willing to wait for election results. Isn't that a worthwhile price for democracy?
Thanks for your insights.
You offer some words.
Lobbyists offer big financial rewards, favors, vacations, etc.
Consider human nature; who do you believe the legislators will choose to follow?
I'm not saying we shouldn't try, but, there are bigger problems at play here...
I learned about the modela on this page about a model train.
1080p ought to be enough for anybody?
The Modela MDX-15 is only $2995.
It's not only a mill, but a 3d scanner too.
For all of you drooling over the $2400 price tag, is $600 more really so much to ask?
If you haven't seen it, download it for free.
I need to leave my desktop computer on all night for backups and virus scans. Otherwise, my computer is inevitably downloading something, processing or rendering something, or otherwise doing a job for me.
:-)
My laptop, on the other hand, sleeps constantly.
Pick up the DVD and watch the movies with the "Director/Writers" commentary track on. You will discover that Jackson, Walsh, & Boyens know the story to a T, and if they are ever uncertain they can reference the book in a mere minute. They justify all of their adaptations. If you can watch that commentary track and still not respect the film, well.. I guess that's you then.
I'm more excited about miniDV taking a hike in exchange for a hard drive.
Why do I get the impression that camera manufacturers will be charging exorbitant prices for small capacity hard drives?
The reason I'm not using power management features is because every night, my computer needs to be awake for virus scans and backups (both making and receiving). I imagine many users are in the same boat. Power management needs to be flexible enough to accomodate these tasks, as well as the occasional vnc-in after hours.
I am about the most nerdy, curious, star trek fan person in town. There is nothing more fascinating to me than exploring the universe. However, I'm completely opposed to using government funds to send people into space.
Let's let the private sector explore space.
People talk about the "benefits" of the space program, like plastics! Great, an oil-consuming product that takes hundreds of thousands of years to bio-degrade. If that's not progress, I don't know what is!
Resources on Earth are very limited. We all work very hard to pay our taxes. Let's let the private sector lead the way into this exciting new place!
It's sort of a chicken and egg problem (why should I bother to encrypt *my* email if there is no one to exchange it with?), and the answer is definitely integration. Imagine if gmail integrated PGP - we'd suddenly have a whole bunch of PGP users to exchange messages with.
I know there are sites like hushmail.com but we need to get an existing userbase setup with encryption, and everything has to be automatic.
Unfortunately, I'm in no position to organize such a thing.
Assuming a typical linux distro with the typical set of apps - if you were to compile in all the dependencies, how much extra space are we really talking about? Ten MB? Ten GB? One hundred GB?
I could live with 10GB of space used up for dependencies if it means less headaches. At around $1/GB, that's a very small price to pay for peace.
In the polling place there will be a station with a scanner where you can have the barcode scanned while you're wearing headphones so you can hear your selections read to you. The ballot does not have to be removed from the folder; your privacy is assured. Then you go to the ballot box for depositing of your ballot.
How do you know the code running on that scanner is the same code that ultimately counts the votes? How do you know that the scanner won't read your ballot the way you intend, but ultimately mark your vote for other candidates? You can't know because the process is invisible. If you think that any amount of security can prevent this, have a look at such successful endeavors as "CSS." Do you *really* trust election officials to be responsible for a vote counting system that cannot be observed? (i.e., any electronic counting system)
The counting of votes absolutely must be observed by 3rd parties. Any other solution is absolutely, 100% unacceptable.
Judicial (the courts, which are populated with career-long judges that are typically in office well past the duration of the administration that nominated them, which usually means a pretty mixed group, philosophically)
Note that 7 of the current 9 justices have been appointed by Republicans.
If you want to call that "a pretty mixed group..."
Information Technology and Voting
The two are simply incompatible.
Next?
You should have a send a letter to request being logged.
Barcodes sound GREAT - easy for a computer to read, and since democracy isn't worth the time it takes to count votes by hand, we can get things done really quickly. Now that is progress!
The problem with a barcode is that the barcode may not read the way the voter intended. The computer that counts the barcode votes may not count without error.
The only acceptable voting mechanism is one in which the counting of votes can be observed. Any electronic system makes this an impossibility.
It might take a couple hours to count paper ballots by hand and call in the results, but that is an acceptable price for democracy. Progress for the sake of progress is never wise.
There will always be a little bit of fraud and error. But by counting ballots by hand makes fraud on a massive scale very difficult.
...a fairly valid defense?
Let me ask you this: how do you know that the printer printed your vote as you intended? If you didn't even know there was a paper trail, then I am going to guess that it wasn't a voter verified paper trail.
What if the "error" is not so obvious as to warrant a paper recount - what if the votes are changed just enough so that one party wins without much suspicion? Will anyone know the votes have been tampered with?
Paper and pen is the best way to vote. Sure, there will always be a little bit of fraud, but fraud on a massive scale then becomes very difficult.
Ever notice how many people use those automatic door opening buttons designed for people who use wheelchairs?
It's awfully convenient when your hands are full - even for a person who has complete use of their arms/legs.
Most accomodations designed to benefit people who have physical/mental challenges actually benefit everyone.
While I'm often weary of government intervention, there just seem to be certain problems that only government intervention can solve. For example, it used to be legal to smoke in a NY State pub. You might think that if there was demand for a smoke-free pub, such a place would exist, but believe me - NO such place existed. If you wanted to drink, you also breathed in smoke, and that was just the way things were. Now it is not legal to smoke in a NY State pub, and I have to confess that it is probably one of the most wonderful things that ever happened for me. My quality of life has gone way up - not just because I like to have a drink once and a while, but because the restaurants that adjoin these pubs are now also smoke-free. Now going out to eat is a geniunely pleasant experience. Personally, my patronage has skyrocketed.
I know it's always a slippery slope, but unfettered capitalism might as well be fuedalism.
The primary purpose of this proposed rule is to prevent passengers that have been
identified as high-risk on government watchlists from boarding aircraft bound for or
departing from the United States
I think the problem is that getting onto one of these "watchlists" is not particularly hard. Who decides who gets on the list? If you are on such a list, would you know it? Would you have any opportunity to challenge your presence on the list? How hard would it be to declare someone on such a list to be an "unlawful enemy combatant," and thus make them eligible for torture, a military court trial, etc.?
I am not sure how we are going to repeal all of these laws once the current administration is out of power. It's going to be nearly impossible.
The average voter has no way of knowing if a voting machine is doing it's job.
The average voter?
Would anyone know if votes were tampered with in software?
Paper and pencil, please! I will count the votes myself if no one else wants to.
I think people using not Linux these days has nothing to do with how it looks, and everything to do with one problem: applications and drivers.
...etc.
Where's "iMovie" for Linux?
No, Kino doesn't count.
Can I get full-resolution printer drivers?