Diebold continues to be a bad idea

Diebold Machines Can Be Hacked With A Screwdriver (for those of you who don't visit BoingBoing) Tags:diebold voting machine

And on the open-source front

Google Makes Massive Donation To Open Source Project Tags:open source Google Oregon

Democrats grow a pair!

Key Democrats united on Iraq withdrawal I dunno. It looks like they might be growing a spine. Could the be the end of shame for the Democrats? We can only hope. Tags:Democrats Iraq

Why pulling funds from Israel is a bad idea

So I was talking to someone on Livejournal about the whole Middle East situation. His position was "Israel bad. Israel must go" OK. that's a legitimate viewpoint. The status of Israel, given how it was created after WWII, is certainly questionable. My viewpoint is that all sides have to put the past behind them and come to some resolutions based on the current situation. Otherwise its just death death death. I also said that is wasn't very likely that Israel was going anywhere. He suggested that the best way to take care of that was to have the US cut off funds to Israel. My response: Cutting off funds to Israel would certainly be a death sentence. However, the body count for every single inch of land taken by the encroaching armies would be astronomical. The other problem being that in this situation, Israel would have absolutely nothing to lose. I dunno about you, but if I were cornered like that, I'd be unleashing everything I had at, say, the capital cities of the invaders. If you think people are dying now, wait until Death really comes to party. ... Not for nothing, but the Israelis have one heck of a military. Just for example, a couple of their missile systems: Jericho I - range: 500KM, 450-650kg payload Jericho II - range: over 1500KM, 750-1000kg payload Jericho III (may still be in development) - range: 4800KM, (we can assume a significantly larger payload as well) 1500KM can almost hit Tehran It can hit most of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Plus, of course, there's a decent chance that the IDF has achieved nuclear capabilities. Oh, and lets also remember that every person in Israel has had military training. ... You think the US military is having a hard time securing Iraq? that's a cakewalk to taking a kilometer of Israeli territory. Death tolls would be in the 10000s if not more (assuming Israel DOESN'T have nuclear weapons). And that's just the start. And THAT'S why the US can't cut off funding to Israel, almost no matter what they do. An invasion of Israel would make WWII look like a border skirmish. Well, assuming anyone survived (If Israel went nuclear, there's a good chance Pakistan and/or India would do the same...then its off to the races) Tags:Israel Middle East military

Ann Coulter on MSNBC

Coulter "in awe [sic] of the voters of South Carolina [sic]" What it really should read is: "Ann Coulter uninformed dolt. Chris Matthews, her bitch" Tags:Ann Coulter Chris Matthews abortion+rights conservative news media

Anti-Israel = Anti-Semetic?

NY Times quotes, without challenging, Lieberman supporter alleging "growing tolerance of [anti-Semitic faction] in the progressive community" The relevant passage: "There's a small but vocal pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel and perhaps anti-Semitic faction of the Democratic Party,'' said Dan Gerstein, a former Lieberman aide and informal adviser to the campaign. "It is a small minority but it is getting bolder, and even worse. There is a growing tolerance of it in the progressive community." I want to make this very very clear. I am Jewish. I am, at times, disgusted with the behavior of Israel. But make no mistake... Anti-Israel <> Anti-Semitic. Anti-Israel doesn't even IMPLY Anti-Semitic (though the reverse is not true) the same way that being critical of the U.S. government doesn't imply being Anti-American. And only someone trying to breed fear and hate will attempt to convince you otherwise. For shame, Mr. Lieberman. Tags:Israel anti-semitism Lieberman

India plans free software for all

link The move to widely distribute free desktop applications and tools could be seen as a setback for Microsoft Corp., but the Indian government says it has no agenda to promote open source-software over proprietary products. What's more, all of the applications and tools run on Windows, while some do not run on Linux, and any move to expand computer use in one of the world's most populous countries could arguably benefit Microsoft. (emphasis added) If Microsoft saw a boom in computer use in India thanks to this, I wonder if it might rethink its ideas on software distribution. Tags:india software

please pardon the mess

(please excuse the current chaos of the sitedesign. I need to clean up but wanted to get posting)

Iraq War Costs Hidden From Public

(I don't want to post articles this long, as a rule, but the times will, eventually, put this behind its members only wall) We've been lied to about the danger of Iraq. We've been lied to about the reasons for the war. We've been lied to about the costs of the war. Exactly when does this become impeachable? Audit Finds U.S. Hid Cost of Iraq Projects By JAMES GLANZ BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 29 — The State Department agency in charge of $1.4 billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an accounting shell game to hide ballooning cost overruns on its projects there and knowingly withheld information on schedule delays from Congress, a federal audit released late Friday has found. The agency hid construction overruns by listing them as overhead or administrative costs, according to the audit, written by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office that reports to Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department. Called the United States Agency for International Development, or A.I.D., the agency administers foreign aid projects around the world. It has been working in Iraq on reconstruction since shortly after the 2003 invasion. The report by the inspector general’s office does not give a full accounting of all projects financed by the agency’s $1.4 billion budget, but cites several examples. The findings appeared in an audit of a children’s hospital in Basra, but they referred to the wider reconstruction activities of the development agency in Iraq. American and Iraqi officials reported this week that the State Department planned to drop Bechtel, its contractor on that project, as signs of budget and scheduling problems began to surface. The United States Embassy in Baghdad referred questions about the audit to the State Department in Washington, where a spokesman, Justin Higgins, said Saturday, “We have not yet had a chance to fully review this report, but certainly will consider it carefully, as we do all the findings of the inspector general.” Bechtel has said that because of the deteriorating security in Basra, the hospital project could not be completed as envisioned. But Mr. Higgins said: “Despite the challenges, we are committed to completing this project so that sick children in Basra can receive the medical help they need. The necessary funding is now in place to ensure that will happen.” In March 2005, A.I.D. asked the Iraq Reconstruction and Management Office at the United States Embassy in Baghdad for permission to downsize some projects to ease widespread financing problems. In its request, it said that it had to “absorb greatly increased construction costs” at the Basra hospital and that it would make a modest shift of priorities and reduce “contractor overhead” on the project. The embassy office approved the request. But the audit found that the agency interpreted the document as permission to change reporting of costs across its program. Referring to the embassy office’s approval, the inspector general wrote, “The memorandum was not intended to give U.S.A.I.D. blanket permission to change the reporting of all indirect costs.” The hospital’s construction budget was $50 million. By April of this year, Bechtel had told the aid agency that because of escalating costs for security and other problems, the project would actually cost $98 million to complete. But in an official report to Congress that month, the agency “was reporting the hospital project cost as $50 million,” the inspector general wrote in his report. The rest was reclassified as overhead, or “indirect costs.” According to a contracting officer at the agency who was cited in the report, the agency “did not report these costs so it could stay within the $50 million authorization.” “We find the entire agreement unclear,” the inspector general wrote of the A.I.D. request approved by the embassy. “The document states that hospital project cost increases would be offset by reducing contractor overhead allocated to the project, but project reports for the period show no effort to reduce overhead.” The report said it suspected that other unreported costs on the hospital could drive the tab even higher. In another case cited in the report, a power station project in Musayyib, the direct construction cost cited by the development agency was $6.6 million, while the overhead cost was $27.6 million. One result is that the project’s overhead, a figure that normally runs to a maximum of 30 percent, was a stunning 418 percent. The figures were even adjusted in the opposite direction when that helped the agency balance its books, the inspector general found. On an electricity project at the Baghdad South power station, direct construction costs were reported by the agency as $164.3 million and indirect or overhead costs as $1.4 million. That is just 0.8 percent overhead in a country where security costs are often staggering. A contracting officer told the inspector general that the agency adjusted the figures “to stay within the authorization for each project.” The overall effect, the report said, was a “serious misstatement of hospital project costs.” The true cost could rise as high as $169.5 million, even after accounting for at least $30 million pledged for medical equipment by a charitable organization. The inspector general also found that the agency had not reported known schedule delays to Congress. On March 26, 2006, Bechtel informed the agency that the hospital project was 273 days behind, the inspector general wrote. But in its April report to Congress on the status of all projects, “U.S.A.I.D. reported no problems with the project schedule.” In a letter responding to the inspector general’s findings, Joseph A. Saloom, the newly appointed director of the reconstruction office at the United States Embassy, said he would take steps to improve the reporting of the costs of reconstruction projects in Iraq. Mr. Saloom took little exception to the main findings. In the letter, Mr. Saloom said his office had been given new powers by the American ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, to request clear financing information on American reconstruction projects. Mr. Saloom wrote that he agreed with the inspector general’s conclusion that this shift would help “preclude surprises such as occurred on the Basra hospital project.” “The U.S. Mission agrees that accurate monitoring of projects requires allocating indirect costs in a systematic way that reflects accurately the true indirect costs attributable to specific activities and projects, such as a Basra children’s hospital,” Mr. Saloom wrote. Tags:Iraq

95 Theses

So I've been trolling the various political blogs for a while, occaisionally posting something on another blog or emailing a few friends. But then I saw this. This set me off, inspired me, so here I am. 95 Theses of Geek Activism Geek activism has not taken off yet, but it should. With the gamers recognizing the need for a louder voice, EFF gaining momentum and Linux taking on the mainstream on the one hand and recent severe losses in privacy, freedom of speech and intellectual property rights on the other, now seems to be the best time to rally around the cause. Geeks are not known to be political or highly vocal (outside of our own circles)- this must change if we want things to improve. So here is my list of things people of all shapes, sizes and sides of the debate need to know. Some of these are obvious, others may not be meant for you. But hopefully, some of these will inspire you to do the right thing and others will help you frame the next discussion, debate or argument you have on these topics. Reclaim the term ‘hacker’. If you tinker with electronics, you are a hacker. If you use things in more ways than intended by the manufacturer, you are a hacker. If you build things out of strange, unexpected parts, you are a hacker. Reclaim the term. Violating a license agreement is not theft. All corporations are not on your side. Keep in touch with everyone you can vote for and make sure you know where they stand on the issues you care about. More importantly, make sure they know where you stand on the issues you care about. Everything will enter the public domain some day- even Mickey Mouse. Read the original 95 theses. Yes, they are irrelevant to these causes. Yes, they are religious- and not even close to my religion. And yes, they are 500 years old. But they do demonstrate how stating your beliefs clearly, effectively and publicly to challenge the status quo can change the world. Of course, I have no delusions of grandeur! Use TOR for privacy and anonymity. Trusted computers must not be trusted. Democrats may seem to be on your side, but keep an eye on them. They may only be the lesser of two evils. Republicans may seem to be the enemy, but that is only because they are in power now. The true enemy is a lack of accountability. Read Eric Raymond’s The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Why do I have to jump through hoops just to get video off my own home movie DVDs? Know the DMCA so you know what you are up against. The true enemy is the line: “If you haven’t done anything wrong, what do you fear?” The problem with that line, as Schneier has said, is that it assumes that the desire for privacy implies wrong-doing. Proprietary data formats must never store public information. Some corporations are on your side- find them and reward them. No one has ever told me where I could play my 45 RPMs. Why are my MP3s any different? The analog hole is not a hole. The world is analog. If you are in the US, let your Senator know what you feel. Treating your customers like criminals- or potential criminals- will turn customers away. This bears repeating, treating paying customers as potential criminals is a losing strategy. Some corporations may seem to be on your side, but are not. Fair use is a good thing. Use multiple operating systems regularly so you truly understand interoperability. Write to your local newspaper- they can shape the opinions of the people do not understand the issues we care about. Do not follow the Electronic Frontier Foundation, participate in it. Read of Thoreau’s words on civil disobedience. Data mining will not stop terror. Express your opinion in public. Blog. The GPL is not gospel, but it comes close. Use multiple MP3/music players so you truly understand interoperability. If you are in the US, let your house representative know how you feel. Those in favor of suspending some liberties for security, answer this: “Who watches the watchers?” Except for extreme cases, the government should not be in the business of parenting our children. When arguing with people who disagree, be polite, but not condescending. RFID is just a technology- its existence does not make us more secure. Now and in the future, presence of encryption implies nothing. In fact, whatever it does imply is none of your business. Without any other probable cause, the user must not bear the burden of explaining reasons for use of encryption. Flame wars help the other side. New technologies to promote and develop media will prosper because of computers and the Internet, not inspite of it. Security is a trade-off- what are you willing to give up? Calling Microsoft evil buys you nothing- it only polarizes the argument. Holding Google to its “Don’t do evil” mantra buys us a lot. Read of Gandhi’s actions in civil disobedience. Discover Satyagraha. Use Creative Commons. Understand the difference between civil disobedience and breaking the law. Can’t find anything to watch on network TV? Watch Democracy TV. Frame the argument in terms of the average person, not the edge-case geek. These problems affect geeks first, but will affect everyone in the future. Privacy, civil liberties and civil rights are a slippery slope. The reason we continuously fight for them is not that we all seek a utopian society where doves fly free- in fact, I seek a perpetual ‘tug-of-war’ where the rope gradually slips in the direction of my beliefs. Users do not want the permission to use digital media; they want to own digital media. This means using them as they choose, where they choose, in the device of their choice without fear of litigation or sudden inactivity. These users are customers- treat them with respect. Support the free, public domain archives of information. Undermine censorship by publishing information censored in oppressive countries. And then, there is the 12-step plan for the games industry. Corporations and producers of digital media must trust their own consumers. Sales will reward trust. Breaking the law because you disagree with the current law is not the way to solve the problem in a democratic society. ID cards do not make us more secure. Voicing your views in a Slashdot comment thread is good, in your own blog is better, but in places that non-geeks frequent is best. DRM does not work because the customer/user has the key, cipher and ciphertext in the player. (thanks Cory Doctorow) Bloggers have rights- be aware of them. Find out why electronic voting machines are regulated less than casino gaming machines. Find out about Spimes- they are in your future if things go well. Have a global perspective in ideas of geek civil liberties, intellectual property rights and so forth. Do you like your country’s policies in this respect? Can you help people from another country? Geek activism is not all about extreme positions. There is a gradient- find your position on it. Read the PATRIOT ACT- know what you are really up against. In the US, put a few technologists in power in Washington. Abroad, do the same for your own seat of government. Write to mainstream media- they have more mindshare than they are given credit for. Read what your founding fathers said before taking someone’s word for it. Quote the founding fathers back at them- there were so many of them, and they said and wrote so much, that you will find a quote for each situation. Try this one for starters, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Benjamin Franklin. Read more Bejamin Franklin. Read more cool quotes Read more. Mixed tapes are legal. Time-shifting TV is legal. Regardless of the media. Decide what is offensive for yourself- don’t let the government decide it for you. If you do not, pretty soon, you may only see one side of every argument. Music purchases should not be governed by determining which seller has the most clout among the player manufacturers. We do not lock the door to our bedrooms or bathrooms because we have something to hide. We do not secure our networks, conversations, emails and files because we have something to hide. Make sure that if a vendor locks you in, you lock them out. 80% of games are not rated M. You may agree with Richard Stallman, but make sure you understand the opposing point of view. An email tax to certify that it is “legitimate” is an awful idea. Know your rights and be prepared to defend them. Open source is not free. Free is open source. The ESRB game rating system exists for a reason- so that parents can be parents and the government can get on with more important stuff. Do not allow corporations to get away with assisting oppressive regimes. Let your voice be heard. Linux is no longer a philosophy- it is a good piece of software. Use it if it fits your needs. There are reasons based in mathematics that establish the NSA wiretaps and other similar brute data mining ideas do not work. Multiple nag screens that warn us of possible insecurity do not make us more secure. More information available to the most number of people is a good thing. There are DRM free alternatives for music you can play anywhere. Vote. Free as in free lunch is good. Free as in a free people is even better. For software and for everything else. Quoting Schneier’s blog: Cardinal Richelieu understood the value of surveillance when he famously said, “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.” Watch someone long enough, and you’ll find something to arrest—or just blackmail—with. Privacy is important because without it, surveillance information will be abused: to peep, to sell to marketers and to spy on political enemies—whoever they happen to be at the time. Read our modern geek philosophers- read Bruce Perens, Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling and even Richard Stallman. Read Schneier to find practical reasons why stupid security mechanisms are stupid. Read them even if you disagree with them- it will help frame your point of view. DRM only keeps an honest user honest. You have the right to anonymity on the internet. Be proud of being a geek, a gamer, a privacy advocate, promoter of free speech and an innovator without fear of litigation, of government or restrictions on liberties- a geek activist. Most of all- have fun. Tags:95 Theses politics activism