"The gaming of US elections"
Topic: Technology

"Hey Tige," I said to Mr. Tiger, the flaw within, "we should go back to pen and pencil when it comes to voting - otherwise we are doomed."

'The election is over, the Dems got in,' said the pest. 'Get over it.'

"We need to demand that all electronic voting machines be thrown out. Even a machine with a receipt showing the so-called actual votes, can't be trusted to give an honest tally. We're doomed," I said once more, adding to that, "The 2006 congressional elections were hacked. The exit polling data and the reported election results don't add up."

'You're so neurotic,' grumbled Mr.Tiger.

"Think so? I don't," I replied before he could open his mouth again.

It wasn't hard to put on the brakes. I continued without losing a beat, "It is my belief the general public would abandon the flawed system if they knew the truth about how votes are stolen. Greg Palast, for one, has nailed it with this piece,' I said, telling Tiger, "He speculates that the on November 7, 2006, "four and a half million votes could have been shoplifted."

'And I could be Little Red Riding Hood,' said Tiger in between my remarks.

"In fact," I said, "the situation with the touch screen voting machines is critical and it will become worse if we stubbornly refuse to look at what's coming down the road. Look at this," I said as I pointed to a Princeton University study. "They demonstrate, with video, the ease at which this new voting technology can be compromised."

I ended by attaching to this entry a YouTube presentation of the all important demonstration produced by the computer scientists at Princeton. As I did, I begged, "Please watch this!"

What's Real?
Topic: Technology

"Hey Tige," I said to Mr. Tiger, the sham within, "After hearing and reading about Sony's PlayStation 3 and how people are waiting in line for days to spend $500 or more for a game, I'm confused about our priorities. I have a lot of curiosity about virtual worlds but I have to admit, I can't fully wrap my brain around it."

'Am I supposed to act surprised?' growled the pest with a genuine hint of synthetic boredom.

"If you're not - I am - surprised by it, I mean, " I said, already confused by the direction our conversation was going.

Before we went further, I scratched my head and pointed to Second Life, a virtual community where you can create anything. "I guess it's the computer software that creates a simulated 3-D environment - an artificial reality - resembling what is authentic," I said, trying to sound as though I knew what I meant. I didn't. Nonetheless I added what was real, "Participants spend real money on monthly transactions," I said.

'Anything that can be done and is worth doing,' said Mr. Tiger, behaving as he does - as though a novel approach was second nature to him.

Maybe it was. Maybe I was over-thinking what was, for me, a very vague idea. Maybe it's true that the real world, as I know it, isn't any more real than a place like Second Life, where real estate is for sale for $9.95 a month plus a Land Use Fee proportional to the amount of land you own. "OY!" I said.

'I want an island,' responded the pest.

"That can be had," I said to him and then to myself, as I was trying to fathom this stuff, I said, "What on earth is this world coming to?"

'Cool place," he replied, to, I think, the idea of an island.

"You'll probably need a car," I said back. "Real companies are getting into the act of virtual reality," I told him as I read from a CNNMoney.com article, "General Motors' Pontiac division is spending thousands of dollars to create a make-believe dealership that will sell make-believe cars for as little as a few dollars a piece."

I was still not getting it, my head was spinning.

I ended with some quotes that somehow seemed fitting. But maybe not.

"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." --Rene Descartes

The disciple said, ?I am not yet able to be sure about this.? Confucius was pleased. Confucius. Analects 5 ;6

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - Voltaire