The Irish Government has finally decided to abandon the badly conceived eVoting system that it purchased several years ago!
Ireland uses a proportional representation system, and it is not uncommon for counting to take several days. Therefore, the eVoting system was intended to produce almost instant results. However, it was determined by an independent commission that the system did not provide a sufficiently secure and verifiable audit trial.
For more details about this story see Gormley scraps e-voting system, or the harshly written Ireland scraps evoting in favour of ‘stupid old pencils’.
I am delighted with this decision, because I think that the purchased eVoting system would have provided fewer verifiable audit facilities than the current paper based system. This is a pity, especially when you consider that a well specified system could have provided a significantly more verifiable audit trial. For example, every voter could have been supplied with a unique random identifier after he/she voted. The voter could then use this number online later to determine this his/her vote was correctly recorded, and contributed to the overall result.
Perhaps the best feature of the paper based voting system is that it provides very entertaining viewing :D
Tags: eVoting, Ireland
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Apple have removed the controversial Baby Shaker application from the application store! I guess that it is not surprising, since Apple try not to endorse any applications that are objectionable!
To read more about this see ‘Baby Shaker’ game pulled from Apple’s iPhone App Store. There is also a great video demonstration!
Tags: Apple
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I just read that the Belgian Government has ordered 17 ISPs to block access to four websites. According to the largest ISP, this is the first time that this has occurred. The censored websites in this case contain details of convicted paedophiles. For more details about this see Belgium govt blocks access to website.
In general, I am in favour of making information public. However, I am also a strong supporter of privacy. So I do not know yet if publishing this information is good or bad.
However, I do think that trying to block access to these websites by forcing ISPs to police network traffic is both stupid and ineffective. In my opinion, this type of action only raises the profile of the censored websites! I suppose that it is typical of pushing a political solution into a technical arena.
Tags: Belgium, Censorship, ISP
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The latest versions of Ubuntu and Kubuntu will be released tomorrow. These will be version 9.04, and they are known as Jaunty Jackalope.
I have never used Linux as my main desktop operating system before, but I have had limited experience of using it on servers. My main reason for wanting to try it is that I am getting tired of all the bugs, security weaknesses, and limited functionality of Windows. My reasons for choosing Ubuntu or Kubuntu are that they both come ready for use, and I know that they are configured securely! So I think that now is a great time to try them!
My initial plan is to install both operating systems on my computer using VMware. I will then start using them as my main operating systems until I can decide which I prefer. At that stage I might format my hard disk, and reinstall ;) The main applications that I will need are:
My understanding is that the main difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu is the window managers that they use (GNOME versus KDE). However, reading the documentation they both seem to come with different application sets. This is confusing me slightly. I am also not clear why they both need to reinvent the browser!
Hopefully, all will become clear over the following weeks ;) I will keep writing about my progress here!
Tags: Eclipse, Firefox, GNOME, Java, KDE, Kubuntu, OpenOffice, Skype, Thunderbird, Ubuntu, VMware
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Today RTE launched its on-demand video player, which is unimaginatively called RTÉ Player. I have not had a chance to try it yet, but I already watch a lot of RTE current affairs content on demand. Perhaps my biggest misgiving about the new player is the fact that it is browser based, rather than utilising a separate standalone application.
For more details about this story see RTÉ launches catch-up TV service.
The BBC launched a similar on-demand video player over a year ago called the iPlayer. This caused excessive network usage at that time for BT, and this resulted in extra charges to end-users. This highlighted the increasing problems in the relationship between content producer and content distributor. Ultimately, they will both need to work together! To read more about this see Jaw Jaw, Not War, War.
The next logical step in the roll-out of IP based video on-demand is to supply end-users with set-top boxes. Indeed, this is already being considered for the iPlayer according to BBC, ITV and BT plan to bring iPlayer-style services to TVs. I wonder will RTE do this also!
Tags: BBC, BT, RTE
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I have been doing a lot of work in the last three weeks with XML, Schemas, and WSDLs. It has been a while since I worked with these, so it is very enjoyable!
The XML documents that are based on the files that I am working with will be small, and therefore they will be relatively easy to process with limited resources. However, there are methods of improving the performance of processing XML documents.
One such method is to use the AsmXml parser. This is an XML parser that has been written in assemble language! I am aware of this thanks to a friend, but I am not sure if he is actually using this in a production environment!
Tags: XML
I have never used Linux as my desktop operating system, but I am currently in the process of changing that. I hope to write about it here.
So I thought that I would start with some humour! I recently came across this really good, but nerdy, joke: “Why GNU/Linux Viruses are fairly uncommon” from Charlie Harvey.
Enjoy!
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Yet another Skype story this week…
The founders of Skype were unable to reach a deal with eBay regarding the sale of Skype. So instead eBay will try to float Skype. That should be interesting to watch, if it gets to that stage!
For more details about this story see eBay set to float Skype.
Tags: eBay, IPO, Skype
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Is it a pen? No! It is a dictaphone? No! Is it a mobile phone? No! Is it a Bluetooth hands free headset that also functions as a pen? Yes!
Spy Pen (Copyright Gsm-Earpiece)
According to the French manufacturer Gsm-Earpiece, the device is intended for the following purpose:
The Gsm Pen was specially designed for students who need some help at their examinations. During their exam or test they can get the necessary information from their friends over the cell phone. Keeping the phone in their pocket they can talk to the pen that they are using for writing and listen to the correct answers with the micro earpiece in their ear.
Some other more general uses for Gsm-Earpiece’s products are also described in Spy Earpiece – What is it for?.
If you really are interested in learning more about this headset, then visit Gsm Pen – What is it for?. (Note the interesting spelling sell phone while you are there ;)
Tags: France
Another Skype story…
Rumour has it that the founders of Skype are considering buying Skype back from eBay. The full story can be read in Four years later, Skype’s founders looking to buy it back.
I actually think that this would be a great move for both companies. I do not really see any business or technological reasons why either company is of significant interest to the other. I actually think that they are in totally different market segments – Skype is in telecoms and eBay is in online auctioneering.
Furthermore, I know that many of the Tier 1 telcos see Skype as a significant competitor. I think that independence from eBay would allow Skype to become an even bigger competitor!
I think that the challenges for Skype are to grow its customer base, and to generate more revenue from its customer base. I think that the first challenge is being addressed by increasing penetration into both the mobile market and the business market. I am less clear how the second challenge can be addressed. In my experience, the Skype users that I know have all progressed from the free voice and video calls to buying SkypeOut credit. I wonder what percentage of Skype’s users have actually gone on to make a purchase from Skype.
Tags: eBay, Skype
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