egileye - Slashdot User

Submission + - Dutch commission deals blow to electronic voting 3

Submitted by

hcdejong

on Friday September 28, 2007 @05:17AM

hcdejong writes: "The Dutch commission that has been investigating the electoral process presented its final report yesterday (Dutch only). The conclusions and recommendations are devastating to the current Dutch practice of voting electronically, and to plans for voting via the internet.

Paraphrasing from the report:
the current electronic voting machines do not comply with the basic requirements of an election (e.g. transparency, controllability, integrity).
the paper ballot still offers the best way to comply with these basic requirements.
the commission recommends using an electronic system to generate the paper ballot. The voter must be allowed to check the ballot before it is deposited in a locked box.
votes can be counted electronically (by scanning the paper ballots), with the option of a manual recount.

The deputy minister for the interior Bijleveld said in an initial response (Dutch only) that she would revoke the certification of the current generation of electronic voting machines. The minister plans to present an official Cabinet position on the electoral process in two months.
The next elections (for the European Parliament, 2009) may see a return to paper ballots."

Submission + - Devs admit: WordPress 2.3 Secretly Spying on Users 1

Submitted by Marilyn Miller on Tuesday September 25, 2007 @04:47AM

Marilyn Miller writes: Popular open-source blogging engine WordPress has been upgraded to 2.3 — with some unexpected nasties in the mix. As of version 2.3, WordPress now periodically (every 12 hours) sends personally-identifying information (blog name & URI) to the mothership, along with an alarming amount of information including $_SERVER dumps, a list of installed plugins, and your current PHP/MySQL settings. Most unfortunately, it does not provide _any_ way of disabling this functionality, and WordPress does not have any privacy policy protecting this information. In a 100-message thread about the issue, lead developer Matt Mullenweg defends his actions and staunchly refuses to add an opt-in interface, telling users to "fork WordPress" if they aren't willing to put up with this behavior.

Submission + - Firefox 3 Antiphishing sends your URLs to Google 1

Submitted by

iritant

on Tuesday September 25, 2007 @03:04AM

iritant writes: "As we were discussing, Gran Paradiso or the latest version of Firefox, is nearing release. Gran Paradiso includes a form of malware protection that checks every URL against a known list of sites. It does so by sending each URL to Google. In other words, if people enable this feature, they get some malware protection, and Google gets a wealth of information about which sites are popular (or, for that matter, which sites should be checked for malware). Fair deal? Not to worry — the feature is disabled by default."

How the iPod Touch Works 208

Posted by Zonk on Friday September 14, 2007 @11:02AM from the need-to-roll-out-wifi-syncing-in-an-update dept.

starexplorer2001 writes "The iPod Touch isn't in stores yet, but HowStuffWorks has a nice summary of how the 'touch' part of the iPod Touch works. Very similar to how the iPhone works, without those pesky rebates! From the article: 'The iPod touch also has a few other features that iPod enthusiasts had hoped to see on standard iPod models. Some users hoped for a wirelessly enabled iPod so they could synch their music or share files with friends over a Bluetooth or WiFi connection. The iPod touch is the first iPod to have wireless capability, although it doesn't use it to synch with a computer or friends' iPods. Instead, you can use it to browse the Web, watch YouTube videos or download music from a WiFi-specific iTunes Music Store. With its widescreen display and WiFi capability, the iPod touch might sound like a big step up from older iPod models. But the iPod touch isn't for everyone.'"

Submission + - No more checkin for ANA flights

Submitted by ThinkPad760 on Friday August 31, 2007 @02:39AM

ThinkPad760 writes: ANA (All Nippon Airways) of Japan will on September 4 complete their rollout of a completely ticketless checkin and boarding pass called SKiP! That's right. You book the ticket online thru either a computer or your mobile phone and then use your ANA Mileage card that has a IC chip or have the booking dowloaded into your IC enabled phone (most phones in Japan have wireless IC chips in them now). When you get to the airport, you go straight to security, place you mobile or IC card on the reader. It confirms your booking, the light turns green and off you go to the gate. At the gate the same thing. 2 peeps and you are in your seat!

I've been using this service out of Haneda to Osaka for the past year. It is fantastic. Since I never have to checkin bags, I turn up to the airport 15 minutes before my flight, walk straight thru security and on board.

From the article.
"Passengers who wish to SKiP, choose their seat after booking and paying for their ticket, in advance of going to the airport. Through mobile Internet technology, seats can even be chosen or changed on the way to the airport. On arrival, they bypass check-in and simply touch one of the following to a reader at security, and then again at their boarding gate: an IC-chip equipped ANA credit card or mileage club card, IC-enabled mobile phone, or printed 2D barcode. The process of buying to flying is thus made very simple and convenient."

See the full story here. http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/416706

Slashdot Top Deals