A First

Hi All! This is something I have always wanted to do. A place where I can rant and rave to no end. I don't even have to buy ink! Seriously, I have some thoughts about many things and I would like to share them. This way, when I decide to try and be admitted to the NY Bar sometime in my life, someone will produce a blog entry claiming I support sedition. See, you can already tell what kind of blog this is going to be :)

I would like to say I will keep this on a certain topic, but it may wander. My interests (as far as writing) lie in social computing, systems engineering, position acquisition (RFID and/or AVL/APRS). I also have interests in politics, law, science, art, music, and many others. I hope to make this fun and only sporadically boring.

Thanks again for stopping by and I hope to be changing the world through blogs soon.

The Electoral College (Kegger at Alex and George's place -- Mason that is).

During a Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org) meeting I visited last night, one of the questions was on the Electoral college. The Colorado issue came up as they are thinking of changing to not be "winner take all". One concern is that the value of the state will be diminshed if the votes are cast according to the popular vote. I am still forming an opinion on this. You still have the issues associated with faithless electors as a safeguard. Having lived in a smaller state like Utah (electorally-speaking), I can understand how Utah would not want to be marginalized out of the process. Although since it is not a battleground state, I think we have exactly the situation the Founders wanted to avoid -- notably where a few states are deciding the election. I do know that change happens in excruitingly slow intervals - especially here in Washington :)

MSNBC - Doing the math: How Kerry or Bush could win

Tracking people and things - The perils of RFID

I suspect most people do not realize what the impact of RFID will be. The technologist side of me is fascinated by it. The civil libertarian is scared senseless by it. Sadly, my own interest in it contributes ideas that I think ethically questionable. What I mean is an idea I had to embed RFID tags into license plates. Yes - your car! All cars!

The idea is that the vehicle identification number (VIN) is in the tag. That itself is nothing new. England (where they are more than happy to sacrifice liberty for perceived security), has actively been looking at this for the London tax.

My slant on it is that we have scanners in police cars. The police car sends the VINs of the cars in its proximity to its central server and continually checks the plates of all the cars near it. Rather than the officer needing to constantly check tags on his Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), the system does it for him. When it finds something like an expired tag or something more serious, it informs the officer with the specific information ("ALERT - BLUE Ford Truck Expired Tag"). Then, the officer just has to find the blue Ford truck around him and make the traffic stop. My friend, Eric Soderborg thinks I am absolutely nuts for thinking of this. Honestly, I think it would be a great system and make me millions of dollars, but at what price?


Wired News: American Passports to Get Chipped

The Official Kerry-Edwards Blog

Well, we might as well get the politics up front. I am a Democrat. However, I am a democrat that believes in personal responsibility. I think Big Government can be a great thing but also a terrible thing. I am a semi-strict Constitutionalist and believe admendments should only be made after thinking about it for 20 years - wouldn't that be good; a cooling off period for constitutional admendments. So, with that being said, I am supporting the Kerry-Edwards ticket this year. Although, I have said if President Bush got rid of his axis of evil -- that would be Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft -- I would seriously consider voting for him!

I called the DCCallCenter for the Kerry campaign yesterday. I am going to go down and work and phone banks tonight. It should be an experience :)

The Official Kerry-Edwards Blog