2003-08-07
Voting right
Our right to vote has two important principles: anonymity (so your vote cannot be coerced) and accountability (so your vote cannot be miscounted). Paper ballots work because the ballot is accountable (it is a physical token that represents your right to vote — counted when you identify yourself as a voter, counted when you vote, and counted when the vote is tallied), and the ballot is anonymous (you mark your ballot privately, the marks are tallied separately from your identity).
There is a possibility for fraud: extra ballots could be introduced, or ballots not counted — this is controlled by comparing the count of voters to the count of ballots; or the votes on the ballots could be incorrectly counted — this is controlled by recounting the physical ballots if something seems amiss.
So-called “electronic voting” threatens this system because there is no physical representation of each ballot. (Actually, there is a physical representation in the electronic charge of certain atoms in a RAM chip or the magnetic polarity of crystals on a hard drive; but these are hardly inspectable in the clear fashion that a physical paper ballot is.)
Independent of the issue of computers being complex and unreliable, without a physical token representing each vote that can be inspected directly by humans, there is tremendous opportunity for voter fraud, both intentional and unintentional.
If you want to know more about the issues surrounding electronic voting machines, you should read this article by Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, professor of computer science at Bryn Mawr. If you want to be frightened, read Lynn Landes' page on Voting Security.
Two recent events prompted me to think about this issue: First, a report in the Boston Globe regarding a push to use touch-screen voting machines in Massachusetts. Thankfully, Secretary Galvin is taking a careful approach. Second, a report from Scoop regarding Dr. Mercuri being ejected from an elections conference. Now, why would they want to do that?
2003-08-05
John Peter Zenger
Today is the anniversary of the verdict in the trial of John Peter Zenger, considered by many the germ of our right to freedom of speech.
The outcome of the trial hinged on the (today) little-known principle of Jury Nullification. The jury's verdict of “not guilty”, against the judge's instructions, effectively nullified the application of the English seditious libel laws in the Colonies, paving the way for our freedom of the press.
[On a personal note, Lewis Morris, who was removed from the case by the royal governor, is an ancestor of my spouse. His great-grandson, Gouvenor Morris, penned the preamble to the constitution and noted the influence of the Zenger trial on our first amendment: “The trial of Zenger in 1735 was the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America.”
[A full account of the trial by Douglas Linder, Professor of Law at University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School is available at Zenger Trial.]
2003-07-29
Good news: Conservatives are not psychopaths!
[...] conservative ideologies, like virtually all belief systems, develop in part because they satisfy some psychological needs, but that "does not mean that conservatism is pathological or that conservative beliefs are necessarily false, irrational, or unprincipled."
[Full article at UC Berkeley]
2003-07-15
Pods Unite
For a limited time, buyers of new Volkswagen Beetles will receive a free 15 GB Apple iPod.
Continue reading "Pods Unite"2003-07-04
Independence
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Continue reading "Independence"2003-07-02
2003-06-04
2003-05-29
Atheism
"The greatest single cause of Atheism in the world today, is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny Him by their life style. That, is what an unbelieving world, simply finds, unbelievable."
dc Talk
2003-05-28
French do something right
The French consumer association (Union Federale des Consommateurs - Que Choisir) is taking the major record labels as well as two large distributors to court. UFC's complaint is that audio CD copy protection is abusive and overly restricts fair use, particularly as the record labels are already paid a levy on all blank CD-ROM sales. UFC picks its battles carefully, and rarely loses, so the outcome should be interesting. The story was reported in most French media yesterday evening and this morning. The national radio-station-of-record, France Inter, used a Mac user for its man-on-the-street interview ;)
[From MacInTouch]
2003-05-10
2003-05-03
2003-04-16
Malice aforethought
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
Hanlon's Razor
2003-04-15
Cog
[This is the new Honda commercial (extended version), inspired by Mouse Trap!, and pretty cool. It apparently took them 605 takes to make! Will take a loooong time to download if you are on a modem. --ptw]
A single cog sets off a chain reaction that sets component parts of a Honda Accord in elaborate and orchestrated motion. Quite unlike any car commercial you've likely seen.
http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/581/
Credits:
Director: Antoine Bardou-Jacquet
Production Company: Partizan Midi Minuit
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy
Agency Producer: Rob Steiner
Agency Creatives: Matt Gooden & Ben Walker
Post Production: The Mill
Producer: Fi Kilroe
Flame: Barnsley
Flame Assistant: Dave Birkill
I am told that it took 605 takes to get this to all work, and that the film crew just about mutinied. Somewhat ironic, given the tag line...
So, how did they get those tires to roll up the ramp?
2003-04-01
2003-03-21
... not war
"Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties."
Jules Renard, writer (1864-1910)
2003-02-28
2003-02-26
2003-01-08
2002-12-24
2002-12-15
Jury Nullification
"The fact that the judge says it is not the jury's responsibility to judge the law should not be confused with believing that it is not the jury's responsiblity to judge the law.
"The jury is the final safeguard built into our system to prevent our citizens from being stripped of their rights by unjust laws. You cannot punish a juror for voting with his conscience.
"Few history books give juries the credit they're due--for stopping the Salem witch trials, for overturning slavery in state after state before the Civil War, and for ending Prohibition--all by refusing to convict because they thought the law itself was wrong.
"These days, trial by jury often doesn't accomplish all that it should. And the usurpation continues: trial judges now falsely tell jurors that their only job is to decide if the "facts" are sufficient to convict, and that if so, they "should" or "must" convict. Defense attorneys can face contempt of court charges if they urge jurors to acquit if they think the law is unconstitutional or unjust. And self-defenders are usually stopped and rebuked if they even mention their motives, or why they disagree with the law, to the jury."
Jury Veto Power, from The Fully Informed Jury Association http://www.fija.org/abbrhope.htm
2002-10-03
2002-09-23
Driving
"Never ask what sort of computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him?"
Tom Clancy
Billions and billions
"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers."
Richard Feynman
2002-09-12
2002-08-26
Macs, Big and Apple
Claiming that the Macintosh is inferior to Windows because most people use
Windows, is like saying that all other restaurants serve food that is
inferior to McDonalds.
2002-08-17
New words
Winners of the Washington Post New Word Contest
1. Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent
6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightie. (That's unforgivable if you're a male)
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.
13. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.
14. Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Pokemon (n), A Jamaican proctologist.
2002-07-23
Intelligent Life
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin (Bill Watterson)
2002-06-04
Caution
"Why is it so easy to throw caution to the wind? Shouldn't it be heavier and shaped like an anvil?"
Jon Anderson
2002-04-20
Did you feel it?
It seems there was a second quake at 7:05 too.
If you felt the quake and want to help the USGS map out the physical effects (and correlate them to their seismo readings) you can go to:
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/
and report your experience.
I have to say it was rather weird feeling the quake. I turned on the TV thinking there would be some mention of it there. When there wasn't, I turned to the web and found that I could see the real-time output of all the USGS seismographs, and sure enough, just a bit before 7 am, there is a big green shake going on... Phew, I wasn't hallucinating.
2002-03-25
Circe
"I know a number of women (I count myself one of them) who I refer to as 'Reverse Circes'. We go through life attempting to turn the swine back into men!"
K. C. Rourke (lorrett@fantasymakers.com)
2002-02-28
2002-02-25
Douglas Adams on Humans
"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
Douglas Adams
2002-02-14
2001-12-20
2001-12-17
Life in the fast lane
"The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other end in an awful hurry."
John Jensen
2001-11-21
Gandalf on capital punishment
"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
Gandalf (J. R. R. Tolkien)
2001-10-02
Palindromic Dates
2001-10-02 is a palindrome.
1380-08-31 may have been the most recent previous one, but the next one is just 8 years away...
2001-09-14
My personal thoughts
I have received several emails suggesting putting a candle in your window, wearing red, white and blue; to express solidarity. I am doing both, but I had my own idea, which you can take for what it is worth.
I know we need to seek out and stop the people who were responsible for these crimes; we need to prevent them from further atrocities. But to my mind the best retribution the USA can inflict is to demonstrate to them and the world, just what President Bush said: you may shake the foundations of our buildings, but you will not shake the foundation of our country. We need to show them and the world that Freedom and Democracy (and the capitalist economy that they permit) are only strengthened by adversity. We need to carry on doing what we do, each our own little bit that makes this country what it is.
One freelance photographer who was interviewed on Tuesday because he happened to have footage of one of the attacks expressed a sentiment I agree with strongly. He called it an "act of ignorance", because the USA is the most enthicly, culturally, religiously diverse country in the world, with freedom and opportunity for everyone, these attacks were attacks on everyone, and misguided. In addition to preventing immediate future atrocities, we need to understand how people could form the misconception that Freedom and Democracy are their enemy, and educate and include them.
Let Freedom ring in our land of Liberty,
Tucker
2001-07-13
Fat Cans
[Seen in a .sig]
Size of a single-serving bottle of Coca-Cola in 1955: 185ml
Size of a single-serving bottle of Coca-Cola in 2001: 568ml
2001-05-01
Annie Oakley and the Kaiser
In the late 'teens Annie Oakley maintained that she could have prevented World War I. Years earlier she'd been touring in Germany and at one of her shows the not-yet-Kaiser Wilhelm insisted she shoot a cigarette he was smoking. She felt that if she'd missed, just that once, the War might not have happened. Who knows? Perhaps she was right.
2001-01-31
Full Marx
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
Groucho Marx
2000-05-18
Bill loves Mac
"To create a new standard, it takes something that's not just a little bit different. It takes something that's really new--and really captures peoples imagination. The Macintosh, of all the machines I've ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard.
Bill Gates, c. 1984, at the introduction of the Macintosh
2000-05-05
Calculaphobia
"Math anxiety: an intense lifelong fear of two trains approaching each other at speeds of 60 and 80 MPH."
Rick Bayan
1998-09-05
Ode to a Scarecrow
"Hey, be seedy! He effigy, hate-shy, jakey yellow man. Oh pique! You are rusty, you've edible, you ex-wise he."
Unknown
[Read it aloud. I remember seeing this, I believe in Time, many years ago. It stuck in my head.]
1998-07-14
Punny
"If I were punished for every pun I shed, there would not be left a puny shed of my punnish head."
Samuel Johnson
1995-08-21
Kid's say the darndest things
Went to Apollo 13 with the kids last week. When asked how she liked it, my oldest replied: "Gee, Dad. It was awfully predictable!"
Guess I should've told them it was a true story first...