a real problem with important solutions
on
Censorship By Glut
·
· Score: 1
What if Google's role in skewing the popularity curve has had a real impact on the public's opinions on doing research? Other web companies also contribute to the flattening of available content, and it is a real problem if we don't find better ways to distribute stuff at random.
I dislike the music example because I think songs should be able to find their audience, even if it means being heard by the only person who can convince his friends to tell their friends to buy it (or by one of the hundred people who could). And registering as pro- or anti- on high-level topics, I feel, pushes people to make the decision far earlier than necessary, biasing them needlessly. However, a broader psychological screening could be a very promising background against which to measure the bias in evaluation of writing.
this widespread adoption is great news - just get Microsoft off that board and we'll be good to go. passwords are by far my biggest problem with the web.
No, a paper ballot is not okay because the stakes are so high that we have numerous groups trying to steal the election and make a game of the system. We need something secure if we want to elect someone rather than just handing over the reins to a cheat. And that means a voting system that doesn't REQUIRE us to TRUST countless officials who are given the privilege of counting our votes and reporting the totals.
VoteHere has created an amazing piece of software that uses a multi-step encryption to make the election both publicly auditable and securely secretive. They've done a shit job at marketing their system, but it's really our only chance to have any confidence in our process. We need to spread the word and convince them to spruce up their web presence. Yet they can repair our elections, and if we are allowed to vote then we can repair our nation. If not, we'll probably continue selling off everything we have that's worth anything and this country will become ever more miserable and weak. Trust no one.
People get curious, the media is a help and a hindrance, but after a while people do learn. They wouldn't learn nothing just because this was very helpful in getting their attention.
I'm wondering if the mac laptop will ever have an optimus-keyboard-like variable displays on the keys. I guess this is sort of an opposite route from the fiber-optic key lighting they have now. But optimus has many more implications for internationalization and the exploding apple market. I guess I could just rearrange the keys on my wireless keyboard - I am anxious to try Dvorak and this keyboard technology for a laptop is years away.
I agree, practice is very important. I think the rapidly expanding Ruby literature is great, but none of the books, to my knowledge, contain problem sets or exercises of any kind (aside from their iterative but simplistic examples that run through the book in some cases). Ruby quiz is a good resource but it would be preferable to also have simpler stuff that would help younger students to make quick progress and see if they were getting the concepts right away.
I was trying to make a list of books for learning to program, sort of a minimal set for getting up to speed on my favorite technologies, and that's when I realized that these books don't have problem sets. Normally I think of writing problems as the hardest part of being a teacher, but in Ruby perhaps it wouldn't be all that tough.
OK, the point about sacrifice is valid. But there are several reasons we should all be thrilled that the OSS alternatives are out there, still adding features and still attracting users.
First, without competition, who knows what features m$ would build or what it would cost? If you respect yourself you shouldn't deny that the near-monopoly windows enjoyed for a while was severely detrimental to its functionality, inflated the price, and gave Gates the delusion that he could tax us all (and Europe too) to pay his legal bills and republican donations. Yes, he donates money to Africa, but if he hadn't seated a bunch of self-loving idiots then our government would have the resources to donate properly. And his software actively destroys value by confusing, enraging, and depressing users, sticking them with viruses, making them wait minutes for the simplest window renders and dialog boxes, etc. There are so many people within m$ to please that when the soft sees the light of day, none of the rest of us can understand its potential. I'm not saying it's useless; Excel for example is a great product. I'm just saying that the fact of the monopoly has been intensely detrimental to m$ products themselves.
Therefore, m$ should not be allowed to get its hands on Linux, not ever. It's awesome that Gates no longer considers himself a software architect, but still NO DICE. There are good reasons why we outlawed monopolies and trusts, and they have come back to haunt us hardcore. The world would, simply, be a far better place if fewer of us were annoyed and plagued and depleted by m$ and all their corporate trickery. Did you never wonder what would have come of all those smaller projects they purchased for the sole purpose of scuttling them?
The past decade saw a lot of very capable hardware fall into the hands of a lot of clever people. So why have so few taken it upon themselves to write software, or even to download much of it, despite the unfathomable savings of time and expansion of productivity entailed? No matter how much he loves the smell of his own shit, there is only one man to blame. And it's easy to hate, harder to cooperate, I know, but Novell, please, cooperate with someone who isn't just trying to take all of our money and put it in a big pile like St. Helens.
Are you familiar with the cryptographic voting system created by Andrew Neff of VoteHere? Unless you know otherwise, I believe that this system features live auditing that prevents ballot loss, allows all sorts of independent verification, and works in a simple and open way that we can actually have faith in. I have never heard a coherent criticism of VoteHere except that it is a tad complex for a high school grad to grasp. It seems there's a new company with a superficially similar process, at punchscan.org . Can they be hacked? Will they save us billions in labor and legal costs, and armored-car/affadavit service for paper ballots? Read their bit or see my priorslashdotposts if you like.
VoteHere is open source. I believe that it is a secure system even though I haven't analyzed the code personally. Further, its design and implementation adhere very well to the 'trust no one' concept that is one advantage of open source (the crucial one in this context).
With this software, which I think will run on most or all of the machines that have already been purchased by all states, each vote is encoded, encrypted, and published (online) with each step of the process mirrored in an auditable backup channel. Voters don't need to trust local authorities' honesty and capability because they can check for themselves whether their vote was counted via their encrypted receipt. But no one can determine the content of specific votes unless they gather all the decryption keys to themselves. VoteHere
I have a lot of trouble believing that this delay will really hurt sales. Playstation is one of the biggest and most successful products ever. And we are all looking forward to see this new one which ought to be orders of magnitude more powerful. Yes, the wait is unfortunate, yes, it may be a couple years before the games live up to expectations. But in the long run, I am certain that this platform will be the most respected, most loved, most profitable. Sony has been putting its foot in its mouth since the rootkit, and they couldn't be any dumber than making their minidisc software Windows-only (musicians using windows???). But Europe hates microsoft. And the Wii, looks like some cool stuff, but I just don't think they'll put together a good library of games (compared to PS3).
Don't ban him! He may lie all the time but his words are carefully chosen to make the truth obvious. Without his voice Wikipedia will have a much harder time explaining the subtle stuff. Censorship like this, the kind that imagines that there is a single truth or something like that, is the biggest reason why my site will some day be so much tighter than wikipedia.
The ONLY way honest voting can be ensured is if the actual ballot cast can be checked by the balloter.
HOW is this audience still ignorant of the secure voting software created by Dr. Neff of VoteHere/Dategrity? This open-sourced system for touch-screen machines allows voters to verify their own votes and others without revealing their choices by use of a multi-step encryption. Each vote is encoded and posted online as soon as its cast. Thus there is no one who must be trusted in order for the vote totals to be duly counted.
This alternative is miles better than a paper-trail scheme that imagines there's nothing easier than keeping an eye on every sleaze who finds their way onto a ballot-counting committee. I understand why it's hard to trust a purely computer-based approach. And why someone like a Washington Post reader might have a hard time understanding Dr. Neff's points. But the Slashdot audience should be on top of this! I saw the story about the press bungling technical stories but this is ridiculous. VoteHere has been around for half a decade. I am ashamed that a community I trusted has failed to figure out the clear answer to this horrific problem.
Do you think that having a legit copy means that this genuine disadvantage won't break and freeze you out? If, as Ms. claims, the uplink serves the purpose of avoiding a false negative, cognizent that their fritzy software may die on any given day, do you doubt their sincerity enough to risk killing your OS?
Ha ha ha what a dilemma. Peace to Microsoft. I suspect we've about heard the last from them. It's like the neurosis preceding the death of an overprotective parent.
Buying an iPod is something we've all had five years to think about. It's not inappropriate to buy it from a machine because that implies 'not giving it enough thought'. That's pretty unrelated.
But this machine needs to offer music on the spot! It would be cool if you could surf the iTMS and purchase albums before the iPod was dispensed, but logistically I suppose there are issues like getting it out of the box (and charging it?) before the music could be loaded from a port on the exterior of the machine.
If this machine were revised to offer on-the-spot downloads, especially if it could be done through the box (via special packaging and pre-charging), then its impulse value would grow IMMENSELY. Even having to wait for the charge and the subsequent transfer isn't out of the question at an airport.
I disagree with the idea that computer literacy is different for different types of users. Application aptitudes will vary somewhat, but I feel that the term demands the ability to create files, edit text, employ commands, adjust options, and explore features. I also think that a literate can write text that employs commands, and create web pages. Programming is speaking the computer's language, and webmastering is speech in computer language that is heard in human language. Someone should learn both of these before they are considered literate.
I wish ATMs had a dollar menu. As in, can I get some fives and tens, some singles please? Or a fifty? Not all my transactions involve a trendily dressed cashier, and I prefer the freedom to spend in increments below twenty.
You may be right about the jobs you mentioned as pot-averse. However, I think its clear that for the most part most employers are far too concerned about it, simply because its illegal. People realize many of the reasons why the prohibition of herb is irrational and unjust, but they don't usually give smokers and dealers their proper cred as freedom fighters.
This can present a really big problem in some communities, because our paranoid nation (I'm referring to the States) has hired so many security guards and cops that most of them have very little to do. When it occurs to them that they could be a bit more draconian about pot dealers and smokers, they end up harassing some really sweet people who haven't done anything to hurt anyone in the least. And its not just harassment but also some really sad consequences like permanent records and lost jobs and misplaced distrust and other mad wasteful gestures that are basically done out of trying to save face as being 'compliant with the law', or out of honest misunderstandings about the true dynamics of the substance.
The economic, racial, prison crowding, social, and medical reasons to support legalization are pretty clear. But, in case you all haven't heard the astounding findings that came through in the past year, please check out this post.
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/26/195849/16
This project raises some interesting possibilities in terms of professors collaborating to create educational resources. Another great spot for this is http://officeofgreatideas.com/. There, theorums and lessons can be connected with hyperlinks to external resources like wikis, blogs, documentation, or newsgroups. The community can simply record knowledge, bit by bit, and start to avoid duplication of efforts in notetaking and research. With just a dose or two of the internet's collaborative magic, this site could become an unbelievable educational resource.
Putting kids in an environment where success means social punishment
I contend that the biggest challenge kids in public school face is homogeneity. Rich white kids go to rich white schools, and poor black kids go to poor black schools. This happens because crime and poor schools drive anyone who can afford it out to the suburbs. But the crime is a result of the perverse economic incentives our government has created through the war on drugs and free trade policies that are unburdened by ethical concerns.
When you concentrate students in a building with practically no role models, it becomes nearly impossible for the teachers to do their job. We need to integrate our schools so that our diverse population can learn diverse lessons from each other. That, more than any school-centered issues, is the key to educating our youth.
Education is not the only problem caused by the physical separation of the social classes. It screws up our economy and society in plenty of other ways. The best way to attack the problem is to change the zoning policies that prevail in the suburbs. Please see my essay that I wrote last semester, and send me your feedback.
I recant the part about the rent-a-cop business, because the type of violence that is caused by envy of the lucrative drug trade is not the kind that is combatted by rent-a-cops. This violence just messes up our economy by making people flee from cities and build a lot more infrastructure than they need, and doing a lot more driving (with the death toll and strict alcohol policies that result). The physical separation of the low class from the middle class also screwes up the efficiency of the economy and the quality of civic life by concentrating demographics into bland, overly similar neighborhoods.
Rent-a-cops would prefer that the rich lived in the cities, rather than in remote suburbs, so that they would need more security for their parties. Rent-a-cops might also see a boost in business if [legal] marijuana-induced mischief became irritating. So I can not think of a legal profession in this country that would be hurt by the re-scheduling or descheduling of cannabis.
Legalized pot could be sold by large companies in large quantities. The prices would be lower, yes, but the profits would be going to legit stores and distributors (as well as farmers). Contrast that to now, where the prices are high and the profits go to lawbreakers (many pot dealers are friendly enough, but many are violent and involved in other, more dangerous crimes as well). The crux of my argument was that pot can be taxed lucratively, and everyone knows our government needs it these days.
Gun-wielding thugs aren't good news for business (unless you're a rent-a-cop).
If it was all about business, marijuana would be as legal as milk. Bringing the pot economy out of the black market and into the white market would be incredibly good for the national economy in a huge variety of ways (although such a change might make some workers less productive).
But my point is that it's not all about business. There's some insane prejudice involved also.
Slashdot Mirror
What if Google's role in skewing the popularity curve has had a real impact on the public's opinions on doing research? Other web companies also contribute to the flattening of available content, and it is a real problem if we don't find better ways to distribute stuff at random.
I dislike the music example because I think songs should be able to find their audience, even if it means being heard by the only person who can convince his friends to tell their friends to buy it (or by one of the hundred people who could). And registering as pro- or anti- on high-level topics, I feel, pushes people to make the decision far earlier than necessary, biasing them needlessly. However, a broader psychological screening could be a very promising background against which to measure the bias in evaluation of writing.
this widespread adoption is great news - just get Microsoft off that board and we'll be good to go. passwords are by far my biggest problem with the web.
No, a paper ballot is not okay because the stakes are so high that we have numerous groups trying to steal the election and make a game of the system. We need something secure if we want to elect someone rather than just handing over the reins to a cheat. And that means a voting system that doesn't REQUIRE us to TRUST countless officials who are given the privilege of counting our votes and reporting the totals.
VoteHere has created an amazing piece of software that uses a multi-step encryption to make the election both publicly auditable and securely secretive. They've done a shit job at marketing their system, but it's really our only chance to have any confidence in our process. We need to spread the word and convince them to spruce up their web presence. Yet they can repair our elections, and if we are allowed to vote then we can repair our nation. If not, we'll probably continue selling off everything we have that's worth anything and this country will become ever more miserable and weak. Trust no one.
People get curious, the media is a help and a hindrance, but after a while people do learn. They wouldn't learn nothing just because this was very helpful in getting their attention.
I'm wondering if the mac laptop will ever have an optimus-keyboard-like variable displays on the keys. I guess this is sort of an opposite route from the fiber-optic key lighting they have now. But optimus has many more implications for internationalization and the exploding apple market. I guess I could just rearrange the keys on my wireless keyboard - I am anxious to try Dvorak and this keyboard technology for a laptop is years away.
Is there even a point to voting any more...?
There hasn't really ever been a point. Even in the absence of fraud our votes aren't actually counted.
I am in the midst of a series on voting on my blog. Please let me know what you think. There's a lot more to come in the series, though.
I agree, practice is very important. I think the rapidly expanding Ruby literature is great, but none of the books, to my knowledge, contain problem sets or exercises of any kind (aside from their iterative but simplistic examples that run through the book in some cases). Ruby quiz is a good resource but it would be preferable to also have simpler stuff that would help younger students to make quick progress and see if they were getting the concepts right away.
I was trying to make a list of books for learning to program, sort of a minimal set for getting up to speed on my favorite technologies, and that's when I realized that these books don't have problem sets. Normally I think of writing problems as the hardest part of being a teacher, but in Ruby perhaps it wouldn't be all that tough.
I like this - wii could become a platform for arbitrary polling almost as powerful as slashdot herself.
OK, the point about sacrifice is valid. But there are several reasons we should all be thrilled that the OSS alternatives are out there, still adding features and still attracting users.
First, without competition, who knows what features m$ would build or what it would cost? If you respect yourself you shouldn't deny that the near-monopoly windows enjoyed for a while was severely detrimental to its functionality, inflated the price, and gave Gates the delusion that he could tax us all (and Europe too) to pay his legal bills and republican donations. Yes, he donates money to Africa, but if he hadn't seated a bunch of self-loving idiots then our government would have the resources to donate properly. And his software actively destroys value by confusing, enraging, and depressing users, sticking them with viruses, making them wait minutes for the simplest window renders and dialog boxes, etc. There are so many people within m$ to please that when the soft sees the light of day, none of the rest of us can understand its potential. I'm not saying it's useless; Excel for example is a great product. I'm just saying that the fact of the monopoly has been intensely detrimental to m$ products themselves.
Therefore, m$ should not be allowed to get its hands on Linux, not ever. It's awesome that Gates no longer considers himself a software architect, but still NO DICE. There are good reasons why we outlawed monopolies and trusts, and they have come back to haunt us hardcore. The world would, simply, be a far better place if fewer of us were annoyed and plagued and depleted by m$ and all their corporate trickery. Did you never wonder what would have come of all those smaller projects they purchased for the sole purpose of scuttling them?
The past decade saw a lot of very capable hardware fall into the hands of a lot of clever people. So why have so few taken it upon themselves to write software, or even to download much of it, despite the unfathomable savings of time and expansion of productivity entailed? No matter how much he loves the smell of his own shit, there is only one man to blame. And it's easy to hate, harder to cooperate, I know, but Novell, please, cooperate with someone who isn't just trying to take all of our money and put it in a big pile like St. Helens.
Are you familiar with the cryptographic voting system created by Andrew Neff of VoteHere? Unless you know otherwise, I believe that this system features live auditing that prevents ballot loss, allows all sorts of independent verification, and works in a simple and open way that we can actually have faith in. I have never heard a coherent criticism of VoteHere except that it is a tad complex for a high school grad to grasp. It seems there's a new company with a superficially similar process, at punchscan.org . Can they be hacked? Will they save us billions in labor and legal costs, and armored-car/affadavit service for paper ballots? Read their bit or see my prior slashdot posts if you like.
Sounds viable. Don't know that I'd want to change my citizenship though.
VoteHere is open source. I believe that it is a secure system even though I haven't analyzed the code personally. Further, its design and implementation adhere very well to the 'trust no one' concept that is one advantage of open source (the crucial one in this context).
With this software, which I think will run on most or all of the machines that have already been purchased by all states, each vote is encoded, encrypted, and published (online) with each step of the process mirrored in an auditable backup channel. Voters don't need to trust local authorities' honesty and capability because they can check for themselves whether their vote was counted via their encrypted receipt. But no one can determine the content of specific votes unless they gather all the decryption keys to themselves. VoteHere
I have a lot of trouble believing that this delay will really hurt sales. Playstation is one of the biggest and most successful products ever. And we are all looking forward to see this new one which ought to be orders of magnitude more powerful. Yes, the wait is unfortunate, yes, it may be a couple years before the games live up to expectations. But in the long run, I am certain that this platform will be the most respected, most loved, most profitable. Sony has been putting its foot in its mouth since the rootkit, and they couldn't be any dumber than making their minidisc software Windows-only (musicians using windows???). But Europe hates microsoft. And the Wii, looks like some cool stuff, but I just don't think they'll put together a good library of games (compared to PS3).
Don't ban him! He may lie all the time but his words are carefully chosen to make the truth obvious. Without his voice Wikipedia will have a much harder time explaining the subtle stuff. Censorship like this, the kind that imagines that there is a single truth or something like that, is the biggest reason why my site will some day be so much tighter than wikipedia.
The ONLY way honest voting can be ensured is if the actual ballot cast can be checked by the balloter.
HOW is this audience still ignorant of the secure voting software created by Dr. Neff of VoteHere/Dategrity? This open-sourced system for touch-screen machines allows voters to verify their own votes and others without revealing their choices by use of a multi-step encryption. Each vote is encoded and posted online as soon as its cast. Thus there is no one who must be trusted in order for the vote totals to be duly counted.
This alternative is miles better than a paper-trail scheme that imagines there's nothing easier than keeping an eye on every sleaze who finds their way onto a ballot-counting committee. I understand why it's hard to trust a purely computer-based approach. And why someone like a Washington Post reader might have a hard time understanding Dr. Neff's points. But the Slashdot audience should be on top of this! I saw the story about the press bungling technical stories but this is ridiculous. VoteHere has been around for half a decade. I am ashamed that a community I trusted has failed to figure out the clear answer to this horrific problem.
Do you think that having a legit copy means that this genuine disadvantage won't break and freeze you out? If, as Ms. claims, the uplink serves the purpose of avoiding a false negative, cognizent that their fritzy software may die on any given day, do you doubt their sincerity enough to risk killing your OS?
Ha ha ha what a dilemma. Peace to Microsoft. I suspect we've about heard the last from them. It's like the neurosis preceding the death of an overprotective parent.
Buying an iPod is something we've all had five years to think about. It's not inappropriate to buy it from a machine because that implies 'not giving it enough thought'. That's pretty unrelated.
But this machine needs to offer music on the spot! It would be cool if you could surf the iTMS and purchase albums before the iPod was dispensed, but logistically I suppose there are issues like getting it out of the box (and charging it?) before the music could be loaded from a port on the exterior of the machine.
If this machine were revised to offer on-the-spot downloads, especially if it could be done through the box (via special packaging and pre-charging), then its impulse value would grow IMMENSELY. Even having to wait for the charge and the subsequent transfer isn't out of the question at an airport.
I disagree with the idea that computer literacy is different for different types of users. Application aptitudes will vary somewhat, but I feel that the term demands the ability to create files, edit text, employ commands, adjust options, and explore features. I also think that a literate can write text that employs commands, and create web pages. Programming is speaking the computer's language, and webmastering is speech in computer language that is heard in human language. Someone should learn both of these before they are considered literate.
I wish ATMs had a dollar menu. As in, can I get some fives and tens, some singles please? Or a fifty? Not all my transactions involve a trendily dressed cashier, and I prefer the freedom to spend in increments below twenty.
You may be right about the jobs you mentioned as pot-averse. However, I think its clear that for the most part most employers are far too concerned about it, simply because its illegal. People realize many of the reasons why the prohibition of herb is irrational and unjust, but they don't usually give smokers and dealers their proper cred as freedom fighters.
6
This can present a really big problem in some communities, because our paranoid nation (I'm referring to the States) has hired so many security guards and cops that most of them have very little to do. When it occurs to them that they could be a bit more draconian about pot dealers and smokers, they end up harassing some really sweet people who haven't done anything to hurt anyone in the least. And its not just harassment but also some really sad consequences like permanent records and lost jobs and misplaced distrust and other mad wasteful gestures that are basically done out of trying to save face as being 'compliant with the law', or out of honest misunderstandings about the true dynamics of the substance.
The economic, racial, prison crowding, social, and medical reasons to support legalization are pretty clear. But, in case you all haven't heard the astounding findings that came through in the past year, please check out this post. http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/26/195849/1
This project raises some interesting possibilities in terms of professors collaborating to create educational resources. Another great spot for this is http://officeofgreatideas.com/. There, theorums and lessons can be connected with hyperlinks to external resources like wikis, blogs, documentation, or newsgroups. The community can simply record knowledge, bit by bit, and start to avoid duplication of efforts in notetaking and research. With just a dose or two of the internet's collaborative magic, this site could become an unbelievable educational resource.
Putting kids in an environment where success means social punishment
I contend that the biggest challenge kids in public school face is homogeneity. Rich white kids go to rich white schools, and poor black kids go to poor black schools. This happens because crime and poor schools drive anyone who can afford it out to the suburbs. But the crime is a result of the perverse economic incentives our government has created through the war on drugs and free trade policies that are unburdened by ethical concerns.
When you concentrate students in a building with practically no role models, it becomes nearly impossible for the teachers to do their job. We need to integrate our schools so that our diverse population can learn diverse lessons from each other. That, more than any school-centered issues, is the key to educating our youth.
Education is not the only problem caused by the physical separation of the social classes. It screws up our economy and society in plenty of other ways. The best way to attack the problem is to change the zoning policies that prevail in the suburbs. Please see my essay that I wrote last semester, and send me your feedback.
I recant the part about the rent-a-cop business, because the type of violence that is caused by envy of the lucrative drug trade is not the kind that is combatted by rent-a-cops. This violence just messes up our economy by making people flee from cities and build a lot more infrastructure than they need, and doing a lot more driving (with the death toll and strict alcohol policies that result). The physical separation of the low class from the middle class also screwes up the efficiency of the economy and the quality of civic life by concentrating demographics into bland, overly similar neighborhoods.
Rent-a-cops would prefer that the rich lived in the cities, rather than in remote suburbs, so that they would need more security for their parties. Rent-a-cops might also see a boost in business if [legal] marijuana-induced mischief became irritating. So I can not think of a legal profession in this country that would be hurt by the re-scheduling or descheduling of cannabis.
Legalized pot could be sold by large companies in large quantities. The prices would be lower, yes, but the profits would be going to legit stores and distributors (as well as farmers). Contrast that to now, where the prices are high and the profits go to lawbreakers (many pot dealers are friendly enough, but many are violent and involved in other, more dangerous crimes as well). The crux of my argument was that pot can be taxed lucratively, and everyone knows our government needs it these days.
Gun-wielding thugs aren't good news for business (unless you're a rent-a-cop).
If it was all about business, marijuana would be as legal as milk. Bringing the pot economy out of the black market and into the white market would be incredibly good for the national economy in a huge variety of ways (although such a change might make some workers less productive).
But my point is that it's not all about business. There's some insane prejudice involved also.