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Would you elect the president via text message? 61 percent say 'Y'
According to a recent, sensational survey from Samsung Mobile, 61 percent of lazy, distracted, and impossibly ignorant cellphone users over the age 18 say they would be comfortable casting their vote for President of the United States via a text message. Meanwhile, the totally serious and meaningful survey found that eight in ten (or 80 percent) of teens under the legal voting age would use their mobile devices to cast a ballot in the election. Additionally, Samsung Mobile discovered that 90 percent of cellphone users would like an ice cream cone, while another 87 percent would like an ice cream cone only after eating a quarter-pounder with cheese. Soon Samsung Mobile hopes to determine what percentage, if any, of the people surveyed know who is running for the office of president.
Former Polish prime minister opposes online voting, says Internet users are all watching porn
Sure, electronic voting has had its fair share of troubles, but there's no denying that it's the wave of the future -- and we're always intrigued by plans like the one being floated in Poland right now that would allow citizens to vote online from their homes, since that seems like a great way to increase participation. Of course, some people are just never going to get it, and it looks like former Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski is the latest Luddite curmudgeon to risk your ire, saying that he's not exactly thrilled with the idea of a "young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it." Kaczynski went on to say that as a whole, Internet users are "the easiest group to manipulate, to suggest who to vote for" -- which probably means that in addition to not using a cell phone or having a bank account (true!), he's never actually been on the Internet either. Tell you what, Minister: you come in here and successfully manipulate a Mac vs. PC flamewar, maybe we'll talk. Deal?
Dan Rather Reports on Politics rolls to Florida on HDNet
If we had to surmise, we'd say that the primary in Florida will be one of the most closely watched for whatever reason, but hey, call it a hunch. As expected, Dan Rather Reports on Politics will also be headed down to Miller Auditorium at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to provide a two-hour live broadcast to analyze the outcome of the primary. Notably, Rather will be joined by "veteran campaign strategists" Republican Mike Murphy and Democrat Donald Fowler, and if insanity breaks out again over hanging chads and the like, we're sure it'll be quite the time. Tune in next Tuesday at 8:00PM EST on HDNet, and cross your fingers for controversy.
Engadget up for three Bloggies!
Wow, what can we say, we're totally honored. Your humble source for all things tech and gadgety has officially been nominated for three Bloggies this year -- Best Computers or Technology Weblog, Best Group Weblog, and Best-Designed Weblog (go design team!) -- the most nominations that we've ever received in this annual competition. Unlike the Weblog Awards, which allow you to vote once every 24 hours, the Bloggies have a strict one-vote-per-person rule, and actively discourage cheating by incorporating captchas and verification emails into the procedure. You have until 10:00PM Eastern on Thursday, January 31st to cast your ballot, but doing so earlier will help us all avoid these annoying reminder posts. Also, please remember: winners never cheat, and cheaters never win!
2008 Dungeon Runners Forum Awards
If you're into the hilarious, fun, and "free-to-play" NCsoft game, Dungeon Runners, then you might have read the forums once or twice. Well, time to jump back in because they want everyone to cast their vote in the 2008 Dungeon Runners Forum Awards.Categories include: Funniest Poster Most helpful Poster Best forum comment EVER Whackiest forum comment Favorite Dev person Favorite PvPer Favorite Fansite Manager Favorite Forum Avatar dude Favorite Old Schooler Favorite Dungeon Runners Bug Favorite Dungeon Runners Feature While mainly just for fun, winners will receive a special forum title. But you have to vote before the January 31, 2008, deadline. In this election year now is as good a time as any to get your mad voting skillz up to par. So what are you waiting for? Go rock the vote!
Ron Paul's World of Warcraft rally
On New Year's day supporters of Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul gathered on the Whisperwind (US) realm in World of Warcraft to march across Azeroth and show their support for their candidate of choice. The rally started outside Ironforge with approximately 240 players (with 400 members in their RP Revolution guild) and traveled to Stormwind, Westfall, Booty Bay, Ratchet, and finally Orgrimmar. And if you didn't make it, you can still experience the rally vicariously via our image gallery below (and if you did make it, feel free to send screenshots to us at aroundazeroth@wow.com!) or video above!To the best of our knowledge, this was the first political rally to be held in World of Warcraft -- and looking at their numbers it seems to have been a successful and upbeat gathering (or at least it was upbeat for the participants). Will this event help Ron Paul's chances in the election? It's hard to say until the votes are cast, but the uniqueness of the event is causing it to get a lot of media coverage. (And no press is bad press, so long as they spell your name properly, right?) Read on for impressions of the event.%Gallery-12524%
Colorado voting machines don't make the grade
In a terrifically unsurprising blow to electronic voting fans everywhere, Colorado's Secretary of State has declared the machines unreliable -- and apparently in need of a software patch. While not as harsh as some rulings on the systems, Secretary Mike Coffman decertified three out of four machines which had been tested. Why the bad grade? Apparently the machines failed on accuracy and security, two sort-of-crucial components to dependable voting solutions, and two components which have been lacking in many systems. Coffman believes Colorado's findings could have a larger impact, stating, "What we have found is that the federal certification process is inadequate." Clearly another blow for the Diebolds (er, we mean Premier Election Solutions) of the world, but hopefully a sign that we can expect tough love for suspect voting machines.
Text to win: SMS playing a larger role in US elections
Despite skyrocketing growth, it's no secret that acceptance of text messaging in the US is still light years behind Europe and Asia. Countries around the world have been using SMS as a viable, effective method to get out the vote ahead of elections for years, and although we've seen sporadic efforts to do the same stateside, there has been no concentrated effort that has yielded tangible, measurable results. Of course, that's likely to change over the course of the next two or three presidential elections; young'uns in the US are far more likely than any other age group to send and receive text messages, after all, and those crafty politicians are always looking for exciting new ways to trumpet their agendas. Indeed, AFP points out that three Democratic candidates for the 2008 presidency -- Obama, Clinton, and Edwards -- have SMS short codes set up that let folks subscribe to campaign updates (interestingly, no Republican candidates have followed suit so far). A study by a Princeton grad student looking into technology in elections showed that people who were texted shortly before an election were a full four percent more likely to vote; while that doesn't sound like a big number, it's huge when you're talking about a national election where a single percent accounts for a million or more voters. Heck, who knows, in 20 years, we could all be voting by SMS, American Idol-style.
Ohio report recommends scrapping electronic voting
Like California and Florida before it, habitual swing state Ohio has just issued a report slamming its three providers of electronic voting equipment -- including, of course, renamed Diebold -- and recommending that the 50 counties which use them scrap the machines in favor of a paper-trail-leaving optical scanning method. The report, commissioned by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, details the ways in which white hat hackers were able to infiltrate the systems, easily picking locks, using portable devices to manipulate vote counts, and even introducing "malignant software" into boards of election servers. Brunner's plan calls for the entire state's voting infrastructure to be overhauled by next year's presidential elections, a move likely to be lauded by touchscreen voting's many critics, but coming "about eight years too late, jerks -- thanks a lot," according to usually-even-tempered former candidate Al Gore.
ES&S e-voting machine fails epically at withstanding hackers
We're going out on a limb here and assuming that precisely no one is surprised, but yes, another e-voting machine has proven totally incapable of resisting even the most unsophisticated of hacks. Not long after California Secretary of State Debra Bowen okayed the use of systems that failed prior security audits provided they make a few last minute attempts to appear invulnerable, a security penetration team revealed that an ES&S test system was no better than the rest. Reportedly, Red Team researchers were able to circumvent physical blocks with little effort, and they were even able to access internal files by making a quick and dirty change to the BIOS and booting it up with an external memory device. Needless to say, this deceased horse has been bludgeoned quite enough, but if you're interested in seeing a dozen pages of epic failure, the read link has got you covered. [Warning: PDF read link][Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of USA Today]
CoX community choice costume contest
When the CoX team announced their annual Halloween costume contest, they knew they'd get a boatload of entrants, and they were right. They've sorted through them to cull their pics; however, they always save one of the best moments for the very end. While the judges have already chosen the three top selections -- Grand Prize, Best Hero and Best Villain -- you need to help them decide who gets to claim the honor of creating the costume that's chosen as a winner by the players. It's time, my friends, to cast your votes. Show your support for our spandex-clad colleagues, and choose who you think best deserves the "Community Pick" prize. There are seven contestants, and each of you gets one vote to try to push your candidate to the top of the pile. But hurry: NCsoft is ending the voting at 10 a.m. Pacific on Monday, 26 November.
Amazon opens voting for heavily discounted systems
While all three current-gen consoles are selling pretty well at their current prices, their MSRPs apparently aren't low enough for Amazon. The popular retail site is offering the opportunity to get a Wii for $79, an Xbox 360 Arcade for $99, or a 40GB PS3 for $139.Before you go running off to make your order, there is a catch. Only the system that gets the most votes in the first round of Amazon's "Customers Vote" promotion will be offered at the reduced price. What's more, the offer will only be extended to 1,000 randomly-selected voters who picked the most popular choice. This last wrinkle could lead to some interesting strategic votes, as some voters might pick their second-choice system if they don't think their favorite has a chance to win. Is there a game theory expert in the house? (Update: Apparently, those who vote for the losing systems still have a chance to get their choice at a smaller discount. See this page for more details. Thanks Roger).You may remember that last year Amazon offered a $100 Xbox 360 as part of a similar voting promotion, and the system won handily against some admittedly weak competition. Will Microsoft's console reign supreme now that its up against its peers? We'll find out on Nov. 22, when first round voting concludes.[Via WiiFanboy]
Engadget nominated in the 2007 Weblog Awards, voting still open
Yeah, we know you've been hearing a lot about the 2007 Weblog Awards in the last couple of days as your source(s) for news across a variety of topics have likely been shamelessly whoring for votes in a bid for a little recognition. Well, as you may have learned, our little site has been honored by being nominated to run against a number of other fine publications for the title of Best Technology Blog. Much love to everyone who's voted for us (and continues to do so) up to once daily per IP address until November 8th. Oh, and let the best blog win. And we mean the best blog. VOTE
Quantum cryptography to keep Swiss votes private
In what's being hailed as "one of the first public uses of quantum cryptography," Genevian voters who take part in the upcoming national elections can rest assured that their votes will remain a secret. Reportedly, the "city-state will use quantum technology to encrypt election results as they are sent to the capital on October 21st." A computer, provided by id Quantique, will be set up in Geneva to "fire photons down a fiber-optic link to a receiver 62-miles away," which should be sufficient to keep any potential eavesdroppers at bay. 'Course, where there's a will, there's typically a way.
Macworld Editors' and Readers' Choice awards voting begins
Macworld has announced that they're looking for nominations and votes for their fourth annual Reader's Choice awards-- they're asking interested parties to drop a note over on this forum thread in the categories of Apple Product of the Year, Third Party Hardware and Software of the Year, and Mac Gem of the Year (an under-$50 software out there that deserves more recognition than it usually gets).As I suspected, there's no question about Apple Product of the Year: it's definitely the Hi-Fi. Wait, no, I mean it's definitely the iPhone. Duh. And the rest of the votes are literally all over the place, from Parallels, Adobe's suites, and even Leopard (despite not actually being from a third party, but maybe it's just that good) to smaller stuff like Panic's Coda and Gus Mueller's Acorn. I gotta say good luck to Macworld's editors-- they're going to need it to come up with some good award winners from that mess.But they've got time-- the awards probably won't drop until mid-December. And by then, we'll all have used Leopard enough to know that it is the software product of the year, third-party or otherwise.
Dutch government abandons e-voting for red pencil
About a year after the Dutch government began seriously worrying about the integrity of e-voting machines, they've literally pulled the plug on the venture. The biggest flaw was the lack of a paper trail according to a special committee which reported its finding this morning. As such, Nederlanders will return to the "red pencil method" in upcoming elections until an automated paper-counting solution can be deployed... and then hacked.Update: To be perfectly clear, the regulation allowing e-voting machines has been withdrawn -- i.e., effective immediately, there is no more e-voting in the Netherlands. However, the Dutch government will make an overarching decision in the next two months "to regain the trust of the public in our voting system." Given that the government commissioned this study themselves, the decision is expected to be a simple rubber stamp approval.[Thanks, Wol]
Voting requirements for the AFK debuff
One of the choruses we heard at BlizzCon was that Blizzard knows about the AFKers in Alterac, and justice will be handed out. The plan, we've been told, is that it will be handed out in the form of a no-honor debuff, that breaks on combat. In other words, if enough people report you for sitting in the Peace Cave, you don't gain any honor until you get moving and start fighting.The problem, however, is that we don't know exactly how many people it takes to hand out that debuff. Thunderbein tells the story of an AV where only 20 out of 40 players were actually playing, and so if the number of players that have to "vote" for the debuff is anywhere over 20, no one's getting the debuff in that BG. Hortus replies and says that it's not as high as 30, but how high is it? Can you give someone the with two people? With ten?And then there's the question of whether we should know at all. What if we learned it was 10 people (in the interest of clarity, I should stress that we don't actually know what it is yet), and a group of 31 AFKers joined up to the BG? Then, nothing is solved at all-- those guys could sit in the Peace Cave all they wanted and gain honor the whole time.The AFK debuff sounded like the best solution at BlizzCon, but every system can be gamed. Blizzard is going to have to be really careful about setting up the numbers on how the reporting works. And because we'll likely find out whether they tell us or not what the number is, they'll have to watch out for other ways AFK players can get around the punishment.
Connecticut offering up voting lessons on video
Not to anyone's big surprise, e-voting is apparently not the most straightforward process in the world, but Connecticut's Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz is going so far as to release a 90-second video clip that demonstrates how to correctly place a vote using a vanilla optical scan voting machine. Yep, this means you'll be able to surf on over and download a 1.5-minute instructional video that will purportedly "lure young voters to the polls," and while Bysiewicz did admit that those who could operate an iPod could likely figure out a voting machine, she's hoping that "providing voting information through a familiar mechanism" will somehow encourage the younger sect to get their vote on. We know, all of this is worthless sans a vid, right? Never fear, it's waiting to put you to sleep after the jump.
Diebold says e-voting sales have failed
According to an AP article released today, Diebold, one of the prominent makers of the recently embattled electronic voting machines, says that the company has failed to make its e-voting business profitable. If you'll recall, Diebold machines have repeatedly been the target of various hacks, many of which have proven the machine to be susceptible to intrusion from outside elements and thus unreliable from a security standpoint. The company has reduced its revenue outlook by $120 million, and has plans to allow its e-voting unit to operate more independently, giving the team its own board of directors and possibly a new management structure. To complete the overhaul of the ailing division, the company will also change the name of the branch from "Diebold Election Systems" to the starkly different "Premier Election Systems." Diebold blames the "rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding state and jurisdiction purchases of electronic voting systems," for much of its problems... as opposed to the fact that they currently produce faulty, unprotected, and unreliable machines.
MacThemes 2 public voting has begun
Phill Ryu writes in to tell us that public voting has begun for the latest MacThemes contest (in which three of the themes will be chosen to win $1000 in software and become available for ShapeShifter). There are tons of entries (55, to be exact), and they all look pretty darn good in my civilian opinion.Overall, the public is being pretty discriminating-- the highest score I can find is 3.5 out of 5. Standouts so far are Pluto, AOR, California, and Plexis, but voting just started, and it's supposed to go through next Wednesday, so I'd expect things to change between now and then.If you're bored, head over to MacThemes and pass out a few ratings for the cause. I guess the public rating will count for half of the final score (with judges accounting for another part of the score), so every vote counts. We should see the winners sometime after the 15th.
