tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post808604852351567522..comments2024-03-18T17:09:55.964-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Sci Fi Invades RealityDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-7051302526407384232016-10-06T11:12:42.966-07:002016-10-06T11:12:42.966-07:00Yeah going to move this to the next thread.Yeah going to move this to the next thread.Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10432722840081535430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40962070382573748092016-10-06T10:53:41.812-07:002016-10-06T10:53:41.812-07:00continued...
- The Foreign Power/Group (Big Hacki...continued...<br /><br />- The Foreign Power/Group (Big Hacking.) This is the real danger to move to Internet based voting. There are a TON of ways to muck up most systems. In order to address these, the biggest by phase is the Transparency included in the system. You can SEE how your ID has voted at all times. Rather set up some system which you also have to determine is trustworthy, lets just let you Verify your own Vote as often as you like. You simply can't do better than that. Be sure to check on someone else's device too. A Big Hacker could capture your device such that you try to Vote A, Hacker Votes B for you, You query your ID, Hacker reports A back. It isn't effectively possible for a program to detect you querying ID's Vote on an unrelated device and Report A without Actually change the Vote to A which was your original intent. Internet Voting Closes a Week early to lock all votes in so they can't be changed after you've checked them.<br /><br />To be extremely brief on the Security of the government Servers themselves. Here is the layout. Internet -> Vote Verification and Writer PC -> Vote Database PC -> Vote Reader PC -> Internet. I assume Big Hacking owns any PC it can talk to. Period. The Vote Verification and Writer PC & The Vote Reader PC are connected to the Internet and therefore own-able by big Hackers. The solution for this is to make both PCs almost completely Read Only. Just flat out remove the Write Heads from the logic parts of the computer. Keep them only in the channels that handle Votes. I don't want to get too deep in this part of the technical side as I think it distracts from the overall picture. If however, you agree with the other parts we can get into it.Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10432722840081535430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57407555658105973912016-10-06T10:53:28.562-07:002016-10-06T10:53:28.562-07:00Regarding Voting...
Hi. I've taken classes o...Regarding Voting...<br /><br />Hi. I've taken classes on elections, worked on them as an Election Inspector, and thought long and hard about how to improve things. While it is a fallacy to appeal to authority, I do think it is useful to establish that this isn't off the cuff.<br /><br />The main concerns regarding elections are generally...<br />Are Votes Cast and Counted as intended?<br />Is Voting accessible enough so that Voters can participate without allowing non-Voters (non-people, foreign, or unauthorized) to vote?<br />Are people using bribery/coercion to force or prevent specific Votes?<br />Is there any retaliating against people for the way they vote?<br /><br />There are tensions such as those between Transparency and Privacy at all aspects of trying to accomplish/avoid the above concerns. The Secret Ballot is very effective at handling the later two, but hinder the first two. It is no surprise that we adopted it in our chaotic & troubled past. I'd have supported it then. Now however, I think it is time to work a bit smarter.<br /><br />As a Transparency advocate, I want us to work on ensuring that votes are Cast and Counted as intended. Something we currently fail at. I can say with absolutely certainty that our current system is not secure. When I worked elections security was established by having 1 member of both primary parties escorting votes to the county seat where they are tallied. This is based on declared affiliation. If I or others in a similar position had simply lied about my party, a conspiracy of two could have changed apparent outcomes. Electronic Voting machine manipulation would be an easier way to malign the vote on a grand scale. The problem here is that none of us can ensure that our vote as counted as we intended it to be. <br /><br />This is all due to the Secret Ballot which we have for a good reason. So lets talk about those goals and how to accomplish them in the modern era. Please consider the following four bad actors. The Employer who will fire someone for voting the wrong way. The Spouse that will beat someone for not submitting. The Super Pac that will pay swing state voters to win elections. The Foreign Government with almost Omnipotent Hacking ability. There are many other types, but this should do for our discussion. Our goal is to prevent them from changing votes. Please now adopt their mindset in order to manipulate the system I purpose.<br /><br />Once & on Request, we provide voters with a personal Online ID & Password. <br />Voting can take place at any time once the Election Board establishes candidates and current Results are Available at all times.<br />Internet Voting closes 1 week before the actual Election. Be sure to check your vote on someone else's phone or a library computer during this week.<br />Voting in Person Overrides your Internet Vote.<br /><br />Those are the basics of what a Voter needs to know. Now lets examine the bad actors and how to circumvent them. That the Secret Ballot still exists as it does today where you can vote in person. <br /><br />- Employer enforced voting. (Hand over your ID/Password or be fired.) Simply do so and report the business to the Elections Board. Vote in Person and override however the business votes. This type of thing is illegal and not worth the risk considering how ineffective it is. Early voting would still be happening so trying to lock down just 1 day wouldn't work.<br /><br />- The Abusive Spouse. (Physical, Emotional, or Abandonment Abuse.) Hand over the information or Vote to their wishes. Override the Vote in person.<br /><br />- The PAC with money. (Bribery.) Accept the Bribe, or better yet hold out for a better one. Report them to the Elections Board for prosecution. Vote in Person to override their Vote.Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10432722840081535430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56547553761114257502016-10-06T10:21:12.031-07:002016-10-06T10:21:12.031-07:00And you would most definitely be needed in the gro...And you would most definitely be needed in the group, Tacitus. ;) <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56614076644811801662016-10-06T10:01:36.049-07:002016-10-06T10:01:36.049-07:00"...and I must admit it would be fascinating ..."...and I must admit it would be fascinating seeing how some of you guys would interact in a Skype- and Roll20-based RPG.."<br /><br />This is clearly the most insidious and dangerous idea I have come across this week. It's a contender for the Bad Idea of the Year Award too!<br /><br />Tacitus<br /><br />I mean, would we all be our keyboard selves in the Mines of Moria? Tacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2392843950523989232016-10-06T07:17:39.871-07:002016-10-06T07:17:39.871-07:00On another small tangent, Paul mentioned about the...On another small tangent, Paul mentioned about the effective use of death in his game. I must concur on that as my old tabletop group were able to wipe out most threats without losing any characters in return. When one NPC left the group due to the actions of another player's character, I crafted a new NPC wizard-priest... and after several games realized I'd created the character to compete with one of the players. Rather than have him leave, I chose to kill the NPC and created a random encounter specifically to kill said NPC. Starting with a Disintegrate against the NPC... and the group suddenly being attacked by dark elves.<br /><br />It was the first time I ever saw that group retreat from a fight. They'd killed over a dozen dark elves (mostly cannon fodder) but I knew the group was winning. And they fled. Because they didn't know how many foes they were facing, their summons had been wiped out quickly and effectively, and they'd lost that NPC first thing.<br /><br />It was that last thing that was the kicker. They had a death in the group. Even though it was an NPC, they'd roleplayed with that character and liked him. (And he was the group cleric so....) One death, well-placed, can be extremely effective. Think Gandalf in the Fellowship, or Boromir in Two Towers. You got to know those characters. And they weren't bit parts! Now? Anyone could die.<br /><br />That you don't see deaths after that point doesn't matter. It is still a sword dangling over the heads of the other characters. It doesn't work with just random characters, mind you... though it might be cruel to start with a character death, then have the first part of the book be a flashback and build that character to be truly nice and enjoyable with the reader knowing what is going to happen. ;)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79405566590100785932016-10-06T07:15:23.439-07:002016-10-06T07:15:23.439-07:00Alfred Differ:
Our Civil War doesn't count as...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />Our Civil War doesn't count as such a dispute?<br /></i><br /><br />Heh. But the Civil War was more about not <b>liking</b> the outcome of the vote than about <b>disputing</b> the integrity of the election result itself.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60579618307050500682016-10-06T07:11:16.890-07:002016-10-06T07:11:16.890-07:00Alfred Differ:
No doubt we will all wind up using...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />No doubt we will all wind up using some kind of block chain algorithm some day in order to rely on the notion that most of us don't want to cheat in order to catch those who try.<br /></i><br /><br />Aren't we in the US reaching a tipping point where perhaps more <b>do</b> want to cheat than don't?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89983906275599134962016-10-06T07:08:30.480-07:002016-10-06T07:08:30.480-07:00@Paul SB: Amusingly enough I've found the oppo...@Paul SB: Amusingly enough I've found the opposite was true. The smaller the group, the more difficult it was to get roleplaying and interactions going. When my tabletop group got two more players, the players started interacting more and creating a dynamic that let me work more effectively. Likewise with my Skype game (and I must admit it would be fascinating seeing how some of you guys would interact in a Skype- and Roll20-based RPG) when we had three players, things worked out better than with just two. (Then we gained a fourth, lost the lone tabletop member of the Skype game, and gained another fourth, and things worked out well.)<br /><br />One difference is of course that the group is more cooperative so really the only "disruptions" are from roleplaying with one player running a drunkard womanizing wizard-blacksmith who has a story for every occasion - amusingly, the other three players are female and his character doesn't hit on their characters. ^^)<br /><br />It may be the predominantly female presence of that group however, as three of the four players are women.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41384805873074577272016-10-06T06:45:56.074-07:002016-10-06T06:45:56.074-07:00Paul SB:
Early civilizations probably had no way ...Paul SB:<br /><i><br />Early civilizations probably had no way of conceiving what seems so obvious to us today, that all these gods can't be real. The idea simply wasn't in the meme stream,<br /></i><br /><br />An analogue of what you describe can be seen in our love of fiction. We can enjoy, and even be edified by, a variety of different media, different genres, different styles. Now, imagine trying to force the story elements of the Uplift Trilogy, "1984", "Casablanca", "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan", the Foundation trilogy, among others, to all fit into the <b>same</b> narrative, where elements of one piece "prove" that elements of another piece don't make sense, or couldn't have happened.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60815184738126860172016-10-06T06:34:24.712-07:002016-10-06T06:34:24.712-07:00Uh-oh.
From today's www.electoral-vote.com:
...Uh-oh.<br /><br />From today's www.electoral-vote.com:<br /><i><br />For the first time in many weeks, Hillary Clinton's lead in a national poll is in double digits again. In a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, Clinton is at 50% and Donald Trump is at 40%. In the four-way version. Clinton takes 45%, Donald Trump is at 36%, Gary Johnson is at 11%, and Jill Stein is at 3%.<br /></i><br /><br />Hillary ahead by 10%? That means the news media will have to close the gap again to make it a nail-biting horse race. Watch for Trump to kill in Sunday's debate.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66874402106406855402016-10-06T06:23:13.754-07:002016-10-06T06:23:13.754-07:00Paul SB:
If you really think Dr. Brin is a blind ...Paul SB:<br /><i><br />If you really think Dr. Brin is a blind rationalist with no spiritual side, you haven’t been reading him very carefully. If I had time I could pull out some good passages from the book I finished recently, but since I have it on CD in my car I can’t exactly thumb through and find juicy quotes.<br /></i><br /><br />Interesting take on the "writing vs talking" dichotomy. Which category does a book on CD fall into?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77870111869504490872016-10-06T06:20:13.866-07:002016-10-06T06:20:13.866-07:00Paul SB:
One side is all about feeling and motiva...Paul SB:<br /><i><br />One side is all about feeling and motivation, the other about the ways to get what those feelings desire. Both are abject failures on their own. It’s the same false duality we saw in the Vulcans of Star Trek,<br /></i><br /><br />Even more so in that TOS episode where Kirk was split into two beings. We, the audience saw one as "good Kirk" and one as "bad Kirk", but by the end of the episode, both realized that they needed to be whole in order to function.<br /><br />Treebeard, no doubt, admires bad Kirk, full stop.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80039261752132857002016-10-06T05:12:08.776-07:002016-10-06T05:12:08.776-07:00Jumper,
When and where? Am I forgetting something...Jumper,<br /><br />When and where? Am I forgetting something important? I don't recall hearing of such a blatant violation.Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6847618657986593382016-10-06T05:10:22.278-07:002016-10-06T05:10:22.278-07:00Donzelion,
We have already established a location...Donzelion,<br /><br />We have already established a location, so we just need to choose a time. Weekends are generally best, though this weekend not so much, as I am grading notebooks and preparing a presentation for Monday.<br /><br />Just leave the bucket o' scotch at home. ;]Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77786761652362228302016-10-06T05:08:22.331-07:002016-10-06T05:08:22.331-07:00Alfred,
One thing to be said about Plato, Aristot...Alfred,<br /><br />One thing to be said about Plato, Aristotle and certain Ionians, is that none of them would have had a lot of influence if it had not been the policy of the Christian Church to defer to their ancient writings in any matters that were not directly addressed by the Bible. Ancient Greek city-states were much more competitive than the huge, monolithic entity that ran most of Western Civilization between the Late Roman Empire and the Protestant Reformation. They established that dominance, not the Greeks themselves, which makes the Church at least as responsible for the retardation of science and progress as Plato's Ideals themselves (a notion that meshes well Christian doctrine). The Age of Reason didn't happen until a couple centuries after the hegemony of a single church had been broken (unintentionally) by Martin Luther. If a person had thoughts that would get them tortured, raped and executed by the Holy Inquisition, there were countries they could go to where they were less likely to be brutalized for thinking outside the box (or the cell, depending). Paul SBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45251825758807242652016-10-06T04:01:43.693-07:002016-10-06T04:01:43.693-07:00The Republicans stormed a recount location and shu...The Republicans stormed a recount location and shut down the recount. Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82889893887242629832016-10-06T04:00:12.232-07:002016-10-06T04:00:12.232-07:00Often a wheel-reinventor will propose a different ...Often a wheel-reinventor will propose a different voting system but, oops, forgets the secret ballot proviso. We have a history of needing that. It complicates verified voting but does not prevent it.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35613567514735867042016-10-06T00:16:07.327-07:002016-10-06T00:16:07.327-07:00@Paul SB: Yes. I was thinking of certain Ionians w...@Paul SB: Yes. I was thinking of certain Ionians who washed ashore in such an inhospitable place that they produced a very mutant rhetoric. Insatiable SOA is the result with live with today, but it also gave us the Moon and one day might spread our civilization off this rock.<br /><br />Plato gets too much credit and not enough criticism.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39883975654623145042016-10-06T00:11:57.031-07:002016-10-06T00:11:57.031-07:00Our Civil War doesn't count as such a dispute?...Our Civil War doesn't count as such a dispute?<br /><br />Heh. Maybe you mean something a tad smaller. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10999502291247576372016-10-05T23:24:38.787-07:002016-10-05T23:24:38.787-07:00And I am re-reading what I just wrote - "Amer...And I am re-reading what I just wrote - "America has never had contested elections that resulted in violence as a result of disputes over the results" - and thinking my prose is a result of one too many a shot too many of scotch. ;-)donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64456661088316097632016-10-05T23:22:24.897-07:002016-10-05T23:22:24.897-07:00Duncan: Ah, if you'll permit, I'll modify ...Duncan: Ah, if you'll permit, I'll modify my statement to be, "paper ballots are the WORST sort of ballot system in America." Other countries have a number of advantages we don't which overcome the inherent problems.<br /><br />If we had a nation-wide electoral system that verified identity, registry, party membership, address of residency, mortality (we do have some zombie voters), language, etc., it would make things easier. If we didn't have a primary/general election system (let alone special elections, run-offs, and others), that would also make things easier. And living in a smaller country (or permitting/forcing rural dwellers to take a day off from work to come to the polls) - that too would help. Better still, if we didn't have racists looking to bar individuals from casting votes for people they didn't like, that too would make things easier.<br /><br />But even though you're right that most other countries use paper ballots (or a hybrid computerized/paper system), America has never had contested elections that resulted in violence as a result of disputes over the results - unlike Brazil, Egypt, India, Iran, Kenya, South Africa, Turkey, Iran...and many other countries.<br /><br /><i>"When I watch the US election returns I am simply amazed at the levels of crap you put up with...We normally end up with single digits of "unusable ballots" - you guys throw out thousands upon thousands of ballots"</i><br />Me too. But paper ballots are not the solution to the problem <i>here</i>.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61478605731062890852016-10-05T23:19:24.749-07:002016-10-05T23:19:24.749-07:00A wonderful resource: Download or flip through arc...<i>A wonderful resource: Download or flip through archived issues of Weird Tales, dating back to the 1930s and 40s. And much more if you follow the embedded links ... and much, MUCH more if you follow the sidebar links at this site. You'll find older, but classic stories from Lovecraft, Bradbury, Hamilton, Sturgeon and others, along with those fantastic, evocative covers</i><br /><br />Not heard your take on Lovecraft, I wouldn't have had you down as a fan. Personally I can't get enough of all things eldrich, and am planing on writing an eco-theamed tribute to At the Mountains of Madness, just as soon as Iim finished dong the same with E.M Forster's The Machine Stops.Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15525214461529206205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86807258057183256062016-10-05T23:06:52.156-07:002016-10-05T23:06:52.156-07:00@Duncan: Paper - simple to use - surely even the A...@Duncan: <i>Paper - simple to use - surely even the Americans can do it!</i><br /><br />You live in a nice, civilized part of the world, but Donzelion's version is more accurate for the darker corners of our civilization.<br /><br /><i>...we don't find any irregularities...</i><br /><br />Selection effect? In a nice part of the world, it would be unlikely. In the dark places, you betchya.<br /><br />No doubt we will all wind up using some kind of block chain algorithm some day in order to rely on the notion that most of us don't want to cheat in order to catch those who try. Untraceable paper needs to go the way of the dodo.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90034155659602690722016-10-05T22:56:23.994-07:002016-10-05T22:56:23.994-07:00@Treebeard: Trump as a Zen master? Har! What he is...@Treebeard: Trump as a Zen master? Har! What he is good at is promoting his brand. He's QUITE good at it. I don't think he would understand “No Water, No Moon”, though.<br /><br />Your mystic is selling you something many of us won't buy.<br /><br /><br />Regarding our host, if you read him a bit more carefully, you'll see him pitch the idea that rational thought is for the daytime while our irrational/romantic natures are for the darkness of night. Reason has its place, but cannot be expected completely to push aside our older nature. We've done some tremendous things through reason, but we wouldn't be human if we obliterated all using it.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.com