Comment Re:B-b-b-ut you forget hopenchange (Score 1) 156
So STFU and start paying your great-great-great grandkids taxes!
ITYM, "...start spending your great-great-great grandkids taxes!"
HTH. HAND.
Comment Re:What about my own content (Score 5, Insightful) 674
Be that software, video or music -- why should I be prevented from sharing it with world ?
Because you aren't sharing profits with the people who make the laws.
Comment well, it's like this... (Score 2, Insightful) 238
So seriously, can anyone tell me what is so hard about automating a paper process that has ticks in boxes?
The problem is not that making an automatic voting machine is difficult. It is not. Making one that is accurate, reliable, and secure is a problem. Even that, however, is not the biggest problem. Getting the voting public to accept the machines as accurate, reliable and secure is the real issue. Take the
One solution to the perception problem would be for Diebold (or others) to open their engine to public scrutiny. Any weaknesses, short cuts or plain old fsck ups would be revealed and the systems could be modified and demonstrated to be secure. This would lead to warm, fuzzy feelings amongst the cognoscenti and they, in turn, would help spread the "these are trustworthy" word of faith among the great unwashed. Problem solved.
However, if you are Diebold and you open your engine for everyone to see, you have essentially given your competition an engraved invitation to eat your lunch. They point out all your flaws, provide an alternative that doesn't have them, everyone flocks to WeMakeVotingMachinesRight and now you, Mr. President and CEO of Diebold, are out of work because EBIT went down the tubes due to lack of confidence in your product. The BoD might say, "Yeah, that public comment about delivering the vote in Ohio for Bush? We can let that slide as long as you are delivering dividends and an ever increasing share price for us." Do something that causes earnings to slide, though, and you are toast.
So, in short, there is no technical reason the problem cannot be solved. There are, however, serious commercial interests preventing such a solution. By "serious commercial interests," of course, I really mean, "people interested primarily in protecting their positions and salaries." NTTAWWT.
Journal Journal: Car SO2 Emissions vs Volcanoes - Al Gore vs Facts 7
EDIT: entire article content yanked due to some math flaws and CO2 vs SO2 number problems. I'm going to recalculate and repost when I can find the corrected data. Sorry for the confusion and stay tuned
Journal Journal: Nobody dared answer the question 12
And so I'm reposting here, on the topic of supporting the troops but not the mission:
Ok. Now put on some camo, go to Iraq, and try to get to century old enemies to quit blowing the hell out of each other. Now have dozens of "important" senators and reps deride what you do while supposedly paying lip service to you. You cannot separate the person from the job when the job is soo closely linked to the very survival of the person. The job becomes the person, for better or worse.
Ok. Now put on some camo, go to Iraq, and try to get to century old enemies to quit blowing the hell out of each other. Now have dozens of "important" senators and reps deride what you do while supposedly paying lip service to you. You cannot separate the person from the job when the job is soo closely linked to the very survival of the person. The job becomes the person, for better or worse.
Journal Journal: House Introduces Conscription Bill 1
On January 10, House Representative Charles Rangel introduced a bill, H.R. 393, that would require all persons in the U.S., between the ages of 18 & 42, to perform 'National Service' for a period of two years. The bill defines 'National Service' as military service or service in a civilian capacity that, as determined by the President, promotes the national defense, including national or community service and service related
Submission + - Was Blue Dragon What X360 Needed In Japan?
simoniker writes: Have major RPG Blue Dragon and other Microsoft efforts paved the way for Japanese Xbox 360 success? 8-4 Ltd's John Ricciardi and Kotaku's Japanese correspondent Brian Ashcraft have been talking about the issue, with Ricciardi commenting on Gears Of War's recent appearance in the Japanese Top 10 game chart, with 33,000 units sold in one week: "I mean, granted, everything is relative — so yes, in a market where the average 360 game sells around 5,000 copies, 30,000 or so may seem like a big deal, but at the end of the day, their userbase is not expanding. The week Gears came out they only sold a little over 7,000 pieces of hardware. It's not enough."
Submission + - Sony Open to Considering PS3 Price Cuts
njkid1 writes: "Even though the PS3 is losing Sony a ton of money at the moment, the company is apparently seriously looking at a potential price cut for the next-gen system. A senior Sony exec told reporters that it's an option that may be used to expand the market.
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=1512 2&ncid=AOLGAM000500000000031"
Submission + - An 'origami lens' for your camera phone?
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Your next camera phone might get a new kind of lens if researchers at the University of California at San Diego convince the cell phones makers. They have designed an 'origami lens' which will slim high resolution cameras. Today, their 5-millimeter thick, 8-fold imager delivers images comparable in quality with photos taken with a compact camera lens with a 38 millimeter focal length. In a few years, these bendable lenses could be used in high resolution miniature cameras for unmanned surveillance aircraft, cell phones and infrared night vision applications. Read more for additional references and images of this 'origami lens.'"
Submission + - Freeing the good stuff from university labs
netbuzz writes: "University research labs are not supposed to be like Vegas: What happens in them is not supposed to stay there. A nonprofit from the Kauffman Innovation Network launching this morning at DEMO 07 aims to free the fruits of academic research that would otherwise sit trapped on university shelves. Bonus: Site translates academic-speak into English.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1095 9"
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/109
Submission + - Are Pharmaceutical Ads Damaging?
trivialscene writes: ABC News is carrying an article about a recently published study in the medical research journal Annals of Family Medicine which examined prime time television ads run by pharmaceutical companies. The researchers concluded that the generally ambiguous ads, which appeal almost entirely to emotion rather than fact, tend to confuse viewers. They also suggest that the ads may be creating problems at the doctor's office, as some people might become convinced they need a particular medication and insist on getting it, rather than leaving the decision to trained medical professionals. What do you think about the presence of drug advertisements on television?
Submission + - Google loses "Gmail" in Europe
Hippie Hippie Shake writes: Google has just lost the right to use the name "Gmail" in Europe, according to the EU. From the article: "Daniel Giersch, a German-born 32-year old entrepreneur, has just announced that his company received a positive ruling last week from the Harmonization Office supporting his claim that "Gmail" and his own "G-mail" are confusingly similar. G-mail is a German service that provides a "gmail.de" email address, but also allows for a sort of "hybrid mail" system in which documents can be sent electronically, printed out by the company, and delivered in paper format to local addresses." It looks like "Google Mail" from here on out, at least in the Old Country.
Journal Journal: Teen discovers potential therapy for AIDS-associated disease
A 17-year-old Indian-American student at the Mississippi Institute of Mathematics and Science has identified a molecule that can inhibit the growth of a bacteria that causes a disease which can be deadly
to people who have AIDS, cancer, or cystic fibrosis, according to a story posted at VOA News. According to the article, the student intends to publish her results to the public r
Submission + - At Least 25 Million Americans Pirate Movies
ThinSkin writes: "Roughly 18 percent of the U.S. online population has illegally downloaded a full-length movie at some point in the past, according to a telephone and online study of 2,600 Americans. A typical movie downloader is 29 years of age, while 63 percent of all downloaders are male, and 37 percent are female. From the article: 'There is a Robin Hood effect — most people perceive celebrities and studios to be rich already and as a result don't think of movie downloading as a big deal. The current crop of 'download to own' movie services and the new ones coming into the market will need to offer greater flexibility of use, selection and low prices to convert the current users to their services — otherwise file-sharing will continue to thrive.'"
Submission + - Canada Responsible for 50% of Movie Piracy
westcoaster004 writes: Hollywood is blaming Canada as being the source for at least 50% of of the world's pirated movies. According to an investigation by Twentieth Century Fox, most of the recording is taking place in Montreal theatres where films are released in both English and French. This has led to consideration of delaying movie releases in Canada.
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