A Parallax View

Shutting the Doors

I have had a good run, but over the past few years I have had less to talk about and been doing more and more link posting. With that in mind I have decided to shutter the shop here and post my links on whatever social network is hip.

If you still get these posts, thanks for reading.

Because asking a computer with an error if it has an error is a good call…

Texas Supreme Court: no e-voting paper trail required

Travis County disagreed. In a FAQ on the county’s voting website, officials answered questions about paper trails and security.

Q: Some computer experts claim that there is no way to audit the vote without a paper trail. Does this system have paper backup?

A: This system provides voters with confidence that their vote will be counted as they intended. First, the voting device provides each voter with a summary of all votes, alerting the voter of any skipped races, and allowing the voter to make changes. The voter has visual confirmation that the vote was cast exactly as intended. To ensure the votes are recorded correctly, the system is publicly tested and validated before, during, after each election to ensure that votes are counted and reported as they are cast. There are many security features designed to test procedures, equipment and software. Finally, the system can print out all Cast Vote Records should that be required for a recount.

In other words, the county has foregone a real paper trail, but it can simply print all the vote records in the machine’s memory on slips of paper at a later date. Since the concern in most such cases would be about whether the recorded votes are accurate—not, say, whether the computer was adding them up properly—this feature is largely meaningless. (A real paper trail prints a “receipt” under glass that voters can see before leaving the voting station.)

Remember?

Google+

If any of you happen to have a Google+ invite to spare, please shoot it my way. I am interested in having a look see at any service that would allow me to drop the Face-Bjork.

UPDATE: Got one

Links

I have a few good links for today:

How America can avoid a Greek tragedy, all about lessening debt in a manner that does not kill the middle class or the limited growth we are experiencing.

What Does America Stand For? I am by and large a believer that a culture should be judged by the standard at which those at the bottom live. It seems that for the most part we only talk about those at the top.

And on a non-political note Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D’s saved data cannot be erased So the game is more or less only good for one playthorugh. How is that for some BS?