"This is why I voted absentee again this election. For one thing, here in Colorado we had about 80 items on the ballot. There is no way I'm going blind and crazy checking that all 80 were recorded properly."
As a non-USian I don't really get why they shove a whole bunch of unrelated items at you when you vote. In Canada, while we do have the occasional referendum, Election Day is usually limited to picking the local representative you want. Period. Looks like someone is trying to pull a fast one and hopes the population will be too busy sorting through all the items to notice. It sort of reminds me of that "riders on proposed bills" business.
"There has been fraud, corruption, and all manner of crap going on in elections in the US since the beginning of time. (And, might I add, consider the source.)
This hasn't change since Bush took office, and won't be any different in 2008. It's not just Republicans that do it, nor is is just Democrats. (Witness the decades-old joke from Democratic stronghold cities: "Why did the Democrat walk into the cemetery? To thank his voters.")"
If that's not the worst kind of apathy, I don't know what is. This attitude is exactly why it keeps happening, because people think that "everyone does it" and no one goes after the people who use those tricks. It shouldn't matter if we're talking about a federal election or a municipal one: If people are caught using dirty tricks to get elected, you, as a voter, should demand their head on a platter. And if there appears to have been improprieties, the allegations should be thoroughly investigated, not just dismissed as Democrat/Republican/whatever bellyaching.
"To me, the growing ranks of people who believe that with all their heart - growing mostly because of the internet, and sources of information that reinforce what they want to believe - are actually more of a threat to our system of government than anything else."
That's funny, I would have thought the biggest threat to be those who game the system to gain an advantage, at any level of government.
"I agree that adding people would do much to solve that particular problem, but more people means higher cost"
I'll likely get my ass flamed to oblivion for this, but here goes: If Democracy is important to you, you should be willing to pay a bit (or a lot) more to make sure the voting process is handled correctly.
Also, I bet you wouldn't even notice the extra cost if the government stopped its "security" dog & pony shows and its bottomless wars.
"As far as they are concerned, anything shiatty you do in life reflects on them. Imagine one day your name gets in the newspaper because of your alcohol/drug/hooker/gambling/other problem. The company name is going to get brought into it. The PR people hate that, even if it's only the local papers."
What if their definition of "shiatty" includes being gay, having been divorced or just being a member of the wrong religion/denomination?
-HT
Re:Holy Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Batman!
on
Gadgets, Then & Now
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· Score: 2, Insightful
"It's amazing, at least to me how fast computation has gotten, and how slow computation is still for scientists and engineers today. Even if a supercomputer could give an answer immediately like a google search, they will still find things that will burn CPUs for days, weeks, months, or years."
It's not so amazing if you remember that acceptable time delays in getting an answer don't change all that much in scientific computing. A bigger computer just means you can make your model more complete (ie closer to reality) and still have it run in a reasonable amount of time.
In weather forecasting, for example, model development goes hand in hand with computer upgrades. When you get that next best, top-of-the-heap computer, you can be sure that the new model will take about as much time to run on the new machine as the old one did on the old machine. However, the new model will take a lot more variables into account, and will be more accurate over a finer scale. The acceptable delays were set a long time ago, so now it's just a matter of cramming more into that time.
"Anglos from west island are the most hated... They live in a french province, yet, they refuse to learn the language. That's way worse than any tourist. .."
You'd actually be surprised how many of the younger ones make the effort to learn French. Anyway, they apparently don't make hate like they used to out here. I've been here a year, and I've yet to hear even a nasty remark about Montréal anglophones.
"If you visit Québec, just try to mention you're a tourist. It makes all the difference on the reply you'll get if you don't speak french."
Or you could just say you're from Montréal's West Island. I swear I hear less French out here than I did living in downtown Ottawa. It's downright weird. North American francophone metropolis my derrière...
Or Larry Niven's The Hole Man, although that was about Mars being eaten by a small black hole.
Re:ScanJet 4p song in firmware
on
Scanjet Music
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· Score: 1
IIRC, it wasn't an Easter egg, it was a quick-and-dirty over-the-phone diagnostics tool for HP techs. If your scanner couldn't play the song, it was likely physically hosed.
-HT
Damn right.
When's the last time you heard about that kind of effort being put into nailing drug trafickers or other nasty criminals who really mess us peoples' lives?
Slashdot Mirror
"This is why I voted absentee again this election. For one thing, here in Colorado we had about 80 items on the ballot. There is no way I'm going blind and crazy checking that all 80 were recorded properly."
As a non-USian I don't really get why they shove a whole bunch of unrelated items at you when you vote. In Canada, while we do have the occasional referendum, Election Day is usually limited to picking the local representative you want. Period. Looks like someone is trying to pull a fast one and hopes the population will be too busy sorting through all the items to notice. It sort of reminds me of that "riders on proposed bills" business.
-OL
When it comes to making sure that elections are fair and handled properly, cost and time should be no object.
A system set up to elect who gets to rule and represent you for the next x years should never, ever be done on the cheap. -OL
"Be honest. He got at least one.... but he figured he couldn't be bothered to get the rest."
Maybe he figured he just needed to get the one warrant before wiretaping everyone.
-HT
"There has been fraud, corruption, and all manner of crap going on in elections in the US since the beginning of time. (And, might I add, consider the source.)
This hasn't change since Bush took office, and won't be any different in 2008. It's not just Republicans that do it, nor is is just Democrats. (Witness the decades-old joke from Democratic stronghold cities: "Why did the Democrat walk into the cemetery? To thank his voters.")"
If that's not the worst kind of apathy, I don't know what is. This attitude is exactly why it keeps happening, because people think that "everyone does it" and no one goes after the people who use those tricks. It shouldn't matter if we're talking about a federal election or a municipal one: If people are caught using dirty tricks to get elected, you, as a voter, should demand their head on a platter. And if there appears to have been improprieties, the allegations should be thoroughly investigated, not just dismissed as Democrat/Republican/whatever bellyaching.
"To me, the growing ranks of people who believe that with all their heart - growing mostly because of the internet, and sources of information that reinforce what they want to believe - are actually more of a threat to our system of government than anything else."
That's funny, I would have thought the biggest threat to be those who game the system to gain an advantage, at any level of government.
-HT
"I agree that adding people would do much to solve that particular problem, but more people means higher cost"
I'll likely get my ass flamed to oblivion for this, but here goes: If Democracy is important to you, you should be willing to pay a bit (or a lot) more to make sure the voting process is handled correctly.
Also, I bet you wouldn't even notice the extra cost if the government stopped its "security" dog & pony shows and its bottomless wars.
-HT
"If the police aren't abusing their powers and have a legal claim to the information then what's the problem here?"
That's what a warrant or a subpoena is for, establishing that the police have a legal claim to the information.
-HT
"In fact, the average number of annual US hurricane strikes has actually gone down over the last 250 years."
Perhaps, but that says nothing about the "strength" part of his argument.
Mind you, I don't really think they had any kind of useful metric to apply to hurricane strength 250 years ago.
-HT
"As far as they are concerned, anything shiatty you do in life reflects on them. Imagine one day your name gets in the newspaper because of your alcohol/drug/hooker/gambling/other problem. The company name is going to get brought into it. The PR people hate that, even if it's only the local papers."
What if their definition of "shiatty" includes being gay, having been divorced or just being a member of the wrong religion/denomination?
-HT
"It's amazing, at least to me how fast computation has gotten, and how slow computation is still for scientists and engineers today. Even if a supercomputer could give an answer immediately like a google search, they will still find things that will burn CPUs for days, weeks, months, or years."
It's not so amazing if you remember that acceptable time delays in getting an answer don't change all that much in scientific computing. A bigger computer just means you can make your model more complete (ie closer to reality) and still have it run in a reasonable amount of time.
In weather forecasting, for example, model development goes hand in hand with computer upgrades. When you get that next best, top-of-the-heap computer, you can be sure that the new model will take about as much time to run on the new machine as the old one did on the old machine. However, the new model will take a lot more variables into account, and will be more accurate over a finer scale. The acceptable delays were set a long time ago, so now it's just a matter of cramming more into that time.
-HT
"Anglos from west island are the most hated. .. They live in a french province, yet, they refuse to learn the language. That's way worse than any tourist. . ."
You'd actually be surprised how many of the younger ones make the effort to learn French. Anyway, they apparently don't make hate like they used to out here. I've been here a year, and I've yet to hear even a nasty remark about Montréal anglophones.
-OL
"If you visit Québec, just try to mention you're a tourist. It makes all the difference on the reply you'll get if you don't speak french."
Or you could just say you're from Montréal's West Island. I swear I hear less French out here than I did living in downtown Ottawa. It's downright weird. North American francophone metropolis my derrière...
-OL
Or Larry Niven's The Hole Man, although that was about Mars being eaten by a small black hole.
IIRC, it wasn't an Easter egg, it was a quick-and-dirty over-the-phone diagnostics tool for HP techs. If your scanner couldn't play the song, it was likely physically hosed. -HT
"The saddest part of this is that the modern Olympics were supposed to be a showcase for amateur athletics"
Even that bit is starting to fail. See: Olympic Tennis, Olympic Hockey, Olympic Basketball, etc.
simply more competent employees to work the returns counter.
For the bigger chains, it's likely cheaper to deal with the loss than to pay the sort of decent wages you need to attract "more competent employees".
Damn right. When's the last time you heard about that kind of effort being put into nailing drug trafickers or other nasty criminals who really mess us peoples' lives?