Date: 10/26/2004 06:13 AM
From: John Mullinax (johnm@mindsprig.com)
Subject: No Paper Trail, No Problem
An electronic confirmation system would be the simplest and most cost-effective solution for verifying votes cast with e-voting machines, and it would preserve confidentiality as well as ("No Paper Trail, No Problem," Oct. 25, 2004). At the time the vote is cast, a confirmation number slip is printed. That is all that is on the slip, just a number.
The voter can go online, enter the number and it will show how that number voted and, more importantly, how the vote was counted in the tally. The voter is assured his or her vote was counted.
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Date: 10/25/2004 01:09 PM
From: Michael McGinnis (WiredNews@michael-mcginnis.com)
Subject: Earth's Tides Set Off Quakes
In 1984, Science News did an article about how geologists had noticed that earthquakes are more common in spring and fall than in summer and winter ("Earth's Tides Set Off Quakes," Oct. 25, 2004). The researchers were at the University of California at Berkeley, I believe.
Because I'd read somewhere that the Earth's surface (crust, not water) rises and falls about 1 meter with the tides, it occurred to me that the thing that's different about spring and fall is that the rate of change in this "crust tide" is at its maximum. Presuming that tectonic stresses build at a constant rate, and presuming that this crust tide could trigger earthquakes, one would expect earthquakes to be somewhat more frequent at spring and fall, when the rate of change (first derivative) of the crust tide's amplitude is at its maximum.
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Date: 10/25/2004 01:08 PM
From Eric Otto (mkultra@fuse.net)
Subject: Song-Swap Networks Still Humming
This article was surprising: One would expect that a lot of the sharing would be over with by now ("Song-Swap Networks Still Humming," Oct. 25, 2004). More than several forces are in play: The genie was let out of the box and the technology is changing faster than the laws, but mostly, music is overpriced.
In many cases, the music that is being uploaded and downloaded would have been in the public domain if the copyright laws that existed before 1972 were still in force. The idea of extending copyrights indefinitely was not a good one. Consider that some of the World War II-era songs are still copy-protected and many of the songs from the '60s would have been public domain now. It was a little bit greedy.
I think the older stuff ought to be let go of by the industry. The newer stuff by the newer artists and new cover versions need to be protected strongly on one level and respected by the end users. It's hard to stop an idea.
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Date: 10/25/2004 12:16 PM
From: Chris Markham (hris.Markham@adobe.com)
Subject: It Takes a Con to Know a Con
Kevin Mitnick missed an obvious point ("It Takes a Con to Know a Con," Oct. 21, 2004). Just because there was little "geek life" in prison for him to write about, that just doesn't hold true for Martha Stewart. I predict she'll start and stay on food services. A big house cookbook would sell at least as many copies as a collection of journal entries. What she could do if an aide brought in a large bunch of fresh basil on visiting day! Or, perhaps a basket of edible flowers for presentation.
Maybe Ms. S will take to writing letters to the warden about the decor and color of the day rooms or hallways. This isn't just prison she's in – it is a makeover guru's dream job (fall '05 reality show alert: Extreme Maximum-Security Makeover).
I predict that when Stewart's time is up, there will be a hue and cry raised around the country focusing on the deplorable state of our federal "country club" prison menu. Hopefully the inevitable talk show circus ... er, circuit ... will raise awareness about the state of living conditions of the other 1.5 million citizens currently in lockdown around our country. Now there would be a book worthy of Stewart's "hard" time.
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