Hacking Democracy: see? We told you so.

Computer people have been saying it was fairly easy to subvert elections on electronic voting equipment. I’m one of them. I just don’t see where there’s any problem with a complete paper trail, including a voter receipt to let the voter know that (s)he has voted in the way (s)he intended.  I also fail to see why all states aren’t requiring open source voting software, which would let everyone examine and find flaws in the software.

Now HBO’s new documentary has exposed how election fraud, both intentional and inadvertent, are made very easy at all levels of an election. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. And as for those who are claiming the documentary is biased and full of misinformation, there’s a simple way to combat the misinformation: prove it.

I’m 5.5 million Pounds richer!

Yay! I’ve won 5.5 million Pounds (you know, British money) from SunTrust Lottery Promotions International. As of right now, that translates to $10,496,896.07. I can finally afford to get that damn scratch on my VW fixed.

The instant I got the e-mail I knew it was a scam, but it’s my first 419 lottery scam, so it was fun to read. Apparently Consumer Reports warned us about this back in 2004, but I rarely read CR, so I hadn’t run across this one yet. Or maybe my various spam filters have just tossed these messages over the years without one getting through. CR says I’m supposed to file a complaint with the FBI and the Secret Service, but I somehow don’t think it’s worth the effort. The complaint form is fairly long and complex, and having dealt with law enforcement before, I find that such forms are often just precursors to even more, even longer complaint forms. Of course, it’s not really up to me, since the Secret Service 419 alert and complaint page no longer exists (even though their own site still lists it in search results).

In any case, I went ahead and forwarded copies to my e-mail provider and to Yahoo’s UK division, which is where the reply address was located. At the very least, Yahoo can cancel the account and cause the bastards a little bit of trouble, while my e-mail providers can ban e-mail from the e-mail domain.

I discovered this website, which includes a hall of fame for such schemes, and full instructions for playing hardball with the scammers. It’s funny, and worth a read. And here I thought it was going to be a boring afternoon.