Fraud, Bugs, Incompetence, Glitches, Errors...

[FormerOstrich]

whatever the case may be just remember

ATM - Automated Teller Machine

Don't tell me there is any excuse whatsoever for this bullshit. I understand the software business. There is no excuses! This makes the United States look like, at best, like bumbling fools.

We can't secure something that is the very core of our being. That is no accident. It's because it's neglected. Why is it neglected? Because the power base doesn't take is seriously? So it can be manipulated? Incompetence?

ATMs on the other hand have been processing reliable, secure transactions for decades. Yes, decades. When is the last time you heard of an ATM only accepting 32,000 and deducting from there? When have you heard of a lost 88,000? I can buy my groceries and I can see the transaction by the time I get home. On the rare occasion an error occurs it is detected quickly. Corrected accurately. The volume is greater than a day of voting. What's the greatest length of time you stood in line at an ATM?

Whatever it may be it is not lack of technology, nor know-how...there are no excuses and it is time we hold their feet to the fire!

[JAbuchan08]

1. I'm just glad that with all these errors, glitches and fraud the election

still ran smoothly. As far as one could tell anyway. Nothing could harm America more than the devisive attempts of some liberals to "count all the votes"

[signmike]

5. Huh?

[JAbuchan08]

10. The Republicans won

therefore it ran smoothly - don't you "get it"

[VoteJohn04_com]

11. STOLEN...Won... Same thing to them

Tshirt available

[JAbuchan08]

12. Exactly. Don't believe your eyes

whatever indications of fraud you see are nothing more than glitches. As for the fraud you don't see....

[signmike]

15. Now I do

I THOUGHT I saw sarcasm there, but I wasn't sure.

[stellanoir]

2. we in the BBV community

have seen this coming for well over 2 years.

It is excrutiating.

Donate to Bev's FOIA request at http://blackboxvoting.org if you are so compelled to have this bogus system ameliorated. "For once and not all."

Our democracy is at stake.

[Lostnote03]

3. ATMs' are the only example people can relate to....

[Political_Junkie]

4. Doesn't Diebold make ATMs?

They know better.

[joeunderdog]

8. who said there's anything accidental about the *cough* "glitches?" n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. A printer could very easily be installed on EVERY evoting machine.

The cost would have been minimal. The repukes didn't want a paper trail. Why is that? We now know why, don't we.

[enough]

7. I think this is a very good point for introducing people to the idea

that there is something WRONG with the system. Most people, even many liberals, just do NOT want to think it is possible. The contrast with the smooth, accurate, every-day-all-year functioning of the ATM system is a great way to get them to face the basic idea.

You have said it very well.

[blurp]

9. The 32,000 limit (bug) is actually pretty understandable

The trouble is that 16-bit signed integers are the default for many (older) systems. A 16-bit signed int has a maximum value of 32767. When it "rolls over" it goes to -32768 and boom: votes end up being negative votes.

This is further complicated by the fact that the system never tells the programmer (by default) that this rollover can or has occurred. It just goes on its marry-way cycling from -32768 to 32767 and back to -32768.

These sorts of problems drive software engineering organizations nuts and happen to be very common.

[George_S]

13. Then they knew!

[FormerOstrich]

14. yes, using the wrong

data type is a common problem especially with Junior level programmers. It also tends to speak to wards poor internal programming standards and lack of stress testing.

You bring up an excellent point. They have coded the system to ignore errors. My guess is they are not issuing any alerts when an error has occurred. The code be crashing over and over again for any number of defects and no one be the wiser.

My guess, given some of these had been detected before, is the latest patches weren't loaded. That's a configuration management issue that has a host of implications itself.

Actual defects will exist on every machine that is at the same level of code. Defects are not isolated incidents. Granted, the failure may be triggered by environmental variables (e.g. prescient with more than 32000 voters)

I really hate the way they use the "glitch" word. The overuse of glitch does all them to make it seem as isolated events. They are defects, bugs, data entry issues, operational errors, hacked, whatever but call it what it is.

btw....thanks for your post...the errors are as much an issue as anything else.

[DELUSIONAL]

16. Amazing how all the glitches and "errors" favored bushie??

If they were true errors we would have seen about half the errors going to Kerry.

And there is no excuse for this ineptness -- but it is ineptness covering up a massive fraud.

I know a whole lot of computer Engineers and programmers etc -- and they are all pissed. They share FormerOstrich's sentiments.

I've also been around computers for 15 years -- have done some data base design, development -- I've worked with spread sheets -- and deal with clerks who don't seem to know that computers are programmed by humans beings.

Keep screaming this message computer geeks!!