The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Jeff:

I think there's a difference between stupidity and foolishness, and I think that trolls like Iva are more foolish than stupid. He's smart enough to learn to reason, but refuses to do so because, quite literally, it goes against his religion.

They say religion is a personal thing, and that's especially true in cases like this. I think that hese kind of people selectively embrace bits and pieces from their bibles, their churches, and whatever other sources appeal to them and then internalize them, wrap them in the infallibility of their own religion, and then go out and preach.

My favorite rule for driving in snow, over ice, or in other slippery conditions is simple and succinct: No Sudden Moves. If you don't have traction and try to do anything fast, you'll end up thrashing or worse. Take your time starting, stopping, and turning, and you'll have a much less unpleasant experience.

Regarding studded tires: They may give you more traction, but the ones with metal studs also do a number on the roads when there isn't a "protective" layer of snow and ice on top of them. They're also generally not legal for at least some of the year (in Oregon, they have to be off by April 1st, no foolin'). Consider other options like plastic studs and studless snow tires.

Finally, regarding tire chains: I've driven with tire chains twice, and both times it was a *miserable* experience. They're great to have in case of emergency, but if you have a choice between driving with tire chains and not driving, go with the not driving option.

I work in the casino gaming industry, and can attest that the opening statement is definitely true.

There are $everal rea$on$ for thi$, and they all $tart with MONEY. The casino doesn't want to give away money, but they don't want to alienate their customers by blatently ripping them off. More importantly, the jurisdictions want to protect their citizenry by making sure the games fairly take the patrons' money, so there are various independent testing organizations and regulatory bodies that spell out how the games must behave in certain respects. All machine events, from bill insertions to game play to the opening of doors, can be logged. There are physical and electronic counters for all sorts of things. And slot machines, both physical and electronic, have been around for a quite a while.

I, personally, given a reasonable amount of money, could collect a crew and design and build a secure, auditable, and fully functional electronic voting machine, after first getting good solid requirements in writing. It's not a difficult problem - it merely requires sufficient motivation to do it fairly rather than to do it how it's been done.


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