Empusa's recent activity

  1. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

  2. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~news

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    Oh absolutely, I think there were many reasons that contributed to the mess they currently have. And if it was just the problems I previously quoted it would be much more excusable. But when those...

    Oh absolutely, I think there were many reasons that contributed to the mess they currently have. And if it was just the problems I previously quoted it would be much more excusable. But when those issues make it so people can't even reasonably vote for their candidate, I think they become much less valid. For instance:

    Teri Adams described that when she voted at the Bleckley County Courthouse and selected candidate Stacey Abrams for governor on the DRE screen, she noticed that her designated selection was listed as Brian Kemp on the review screen. She tried to vote for Abrams a second time, but the review screen again showed Kemp as her chosen candidate. Ms. Adams cast her ballot on the third try when her selection in the governor’s race remained Abrams. Adams reported her problems on “machine number 2” to the poll workers whose only response was “did it take your vote?”

    4 votes

  3. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~news

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    Oh absolutely, I don't think it's a coincidence at all. They would have no reason to fix a system that directly benefited them.

    Oh absolutely, I don't think it's a coincidence at all. They would have no reason to fix a system that directly benefited them.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~news

    Empusa
    Link
    The lack of care for security here is downright appealing. While I'm glad this is being addressed, I find it concerning that they were allowed to operate for over a decade after these...

    Georgia is still using Diebold Accuvote TSX touchscreen machines whose hardware and software date back to around 2005. In 2006 and 2007, security researchers discovered numerous security vulnerabilities in these machines—problems serious enough to cause California to decertify them from use in state elections.

    The lack of care for security here is downright appealing. While I'm glad this is being addressed, I find it concerning that they were allowed to operate for over a decade after these vulnerabilities were revealed. Even worse they made no attempts to remedy the situation.

    After one 2006 report, Totenberg writes, "Diebold was forced to create a security patch for the vulnerable TSX software." Yet incredibly, "there is no evidence that Georgia ever implemented the software patch or made any upgrades to protect the integrity of its DRE machines," Totenberg says.

    The security problems found by those early researchers were serious. Not only can someone with physical access to the machine install vote-stealing malware, it's also possible to deliver such malware using viruses that spread from machine to machine on the memory cards election workers use to load ballot information onto them. Hence, a malicious actor with a few minutes' access to a single machine could potentially hack dozens or even hundreds of machines.

    I don't know how the state of Georgia can justify their behavior here. It seems like their was negligence across the board. Even by the organization contracted to help them.

    It gets worse. In 2016, a Georgia-based security researcher discovered that Kennesaw State University’s Center for Election Systems, which has a contract to help Georgia manage its elections, had a massive cache of sensitive election-related documents—including private voter data and passwords for election systems—publicly available on its website for anyone to download. After being notified of the breach, it took officials months to remove the sensitive information from the website.

    10 votes

  5. Comment on How Facebook failed to break into hardware: The untold story of Building 8 in ~tech

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I think part of the problem is it's just much harder to separate yourself from Google.

    Yeah, I think part of the problem is it's just much harder to separate yourself from Google.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on How Facebook failed to break into hardware: The untold story of Building 8 in ~tech

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    I agree that Facebook has that reputation, and rightfully so. I do find it interesting that they're faced with this problem while their competitors aren't, Google and Amazon in particular.

    I agree that Facebook has that reputation, and rightfully so. I do find it interesting that they're faced with this problem while their competitors aren't, Google and Amazon in particular.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on A Program Judges If You’re a Criminal From Your Facial Features in ~comp

    Empusa
    Link
    Sounds like phrenology has been reinvented.

    Sounds like phrenology has been reinvented.

    5 votes

  8. Comment on What do you think about "robot affection"? in ~talk

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    I think that's a big flaw in online dating, like you say it isn't about personality at all. Instead, it's incentivizes people, women I think in particular, to be incredibly shallow and plays into...

    I think that's a big flaw in online dating, like you say it isn't about personality at all. Instead, it's incentivizes people, women I think in particular, to be incredibly shallow and plays into the insecurities of everyone. I'm not saying looks don't factor into attraction, but to make them the only thing people focus on just sets it up for failure. I don't think this is the only thing to blame for the statistics you mention earlier but with more and more people turning to apps like tinder for relationships I think it definitely contributes.

    4 votes

  9. Comment on What do you think about "robot affection"? in ~talk

    Empusa
    Link Parent
    I think this is a really interesting problem to consider. We seem to be getting more and more isolated as individuals and I don't think there's one simple explanation for why. I think there's many...

    I think this is a really interesting problem to consider. We seem to be getting more and more isolated as individuals and I don't think there's one simple explanation for why. I think there's many factors driving it from working longer hours to turning to people turning to the internet for companionship and much more.

    I wanted to comment on though on your mention of the Okcupid finding that women rate 80% of men as unattractive. I think that's a perfectly valid point to raise, there are definitely difficulties men face finding connections online. But I don't feel that finding translates to real life.

    With dating profiles you have very little idea of the person you're viewing and you're basing your entire judgement off of essentially a few pictures. I think this puts a lot more focus on looks than you would have offline, where there's much more to base your judgements on. I think in addition to that in online dating women tend to receive far more matches than men, forcing them to either be pickier when matching with people or just not respond to a lot of their matches. Of course that just leads back to the same issue of the difficulties men face finding a partner, but I think it's one that is only exacerbated online.

    5 votes