Here’s an interesting perspective on modern Iran, from a man who went to Iran for a week. “Axis of Evil?” Makes one wonder.
Archive for November, 2004
evil?
November 28th, 2004new poll reveals Americans can’t tell difference between science and religion
November 26th, 2004
A new poll shows many Americans may lack the higher brain functions found in this precursor to modern humans, including the ability to discern science from religion and fact from belief. And the helix is there just because it looks cool.
*sigh*
Maybe I just need to re-read this article.
new anti-spam measures
November 25th, 2004After a wonderfully awful task of deleting over 50 spam comments from the moderation queue this morning, and even worse, having several of them get through, I’ve decided to take drastic measures. If for some reason this causes you grief (i.e. if you are a human being unable to post a comment when you should be able to) please send an email to jeff at randomwisdom dot com and I’ll do my best to fix things up.
Thanks, Dr. Dave. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in southeast Asia, we shall fight on the bits and packets, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the internet, we shall defend our Website, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight them on the server, we shall fight them on the proxy; we shall never surrender.
them’s fightin’ words, Mr. Jefferson
November 25th, 2004the spy
November 24th, 2004I have to say I get a bit of perverse pleasure out of listening in on conversations in Japanese, since most of the people talking don’t think I can understand what they’re saying. Of course I have to deal with not being able to hear the whole conversation. But I see that as extra practice. Heh.
best of Sendai trip
November 22nd, 2004I wanted to get one or two of these photos printed as a poster to go up in my room. Help me pick out which one(s) you like best.
Spider
Bamboo
Naruko rays
Yamadera
Matsushima boats
Matsushima fog
Taxicabs, Sendai
Zen garden, Kyoto
Purple flower
White flower
Tanabata composite 1 2 3 4 (all to be arranged in single frame with matte)
The election systems need to change
November 19th, 2004I’m not talking about the electoral college and primaries… everyone knows those both suck. I’m talking about the physical system used to cast one’s votes. Don’t hire lawyers to monitor or audit electronic voting boxes; hire people that know stuff about computers. I think everyone, regardless of political party, can benefit from increased voter confidence, and you can only get that through transparency and smarter security practices.
We should have had trained observers – computer scientists, not lawyers! – verifying the integrity of polling data from machine upload through the tabulation of countywide and statewide results. Somehow we neglected the most vulnerable step in the vote-counting process, leaving a gaping hole for error and fraud, casting in doubt the validity of election results in many states.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-solomon1111.artnov11,0,4976462.story
