Old links

I've had these lying around for a while, but haven't posted them.

• A review of Transformers 2
• A video explaining the health care reform debate
• The stand-up economist translates Mankiw's 10 principles
• Tim Minchin sings a song that you may find hard to listen to
• Last, a funny clip from The Muppet Show

On up-to-the-minute news

I was reading RISKS:

In the November 2009 election in Kentucky, there was a serious discrepancy between how ES&S's iVotronic voting machines worked and how some voters were instructed. Some voters were apparently falsely told that touching `Vote' completed the voting process. However, that only displayed the review screen, whereas subsequently touching `Cast Ballot' was required. Conspiratorial election judges were then able to modify the ballot and cast it. In addition to the fraud, it is clear that the `vote' screen should have instead been labeled something such as `review'. Five insiders were indicted -- including conspiracy to commit vote fraud, extortion, and tampering with grand jury witnesses in a subsequent attempt at a cover-up.

I was just thinking how lucky it is these people were caught. Then I realized... "will have been caught"? Or are we living in Minority Report now, and are arresting people for precrimes?

More info, including accurate dates, here.

Companies whose motto is apparently "do be evil"

• Insurance companies (including mine... I need to get a new one...) say they won't stop weaseling out of contracts with customers who have the gall to get sick.
• Fox News (Yeah, I know, total shock to see them under this category, right?) fired two reporters for refusing to falsify their story. They sued, but Fox won on appeal, with the argument that there is no "law, rule, or regulation" against their lying (or compelling their employees to lie): the FCC rule is just a "policy". Fox is now suing them for millions in legal fees.

On locking up innocent scumbags

I caught the second half of a This American Life episode a little while ago. It was about Hemant Lakhani, who an undercover agent posing as a terrorist tried to buy a missile from. When he couldn't get a missile, another undercover agent sold him one. While he was willing to be an accomplice to mass murder, there's no evidence he was able to do so, which makes it arguably entrapment.

The part of the story that really bothered me, though, is a bit near the end (0:51) where they quote the prosecutor, Chris Christie (now running for Governor of New Jersey), as saying it didn't matter whether he was guilty or innocent, because he was a "bad person"!

IntenseDebate problems

IntenseDebate seems to be having some issues with not showing comments. The comment count will be accurate, but some of the comments will not be visible. It seems to mostly affect replies to other comments.

This isn't just happening on my site, and it's not a small problem. I mean, showing your comment to other people is what a commenting system is supposed to do.

For the time being, try reposting your comment as a reply to the original blog post, instead of as a reply to a comment. I'd really rather not go through the bother of switching comment systems again, but if this becomes a recurring issue, I won't have a choice.

Edit: The problem seems to have gone away for the time being. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

A geometry problem

Look at the cover of Godel, Escher, Bach. The blocks are carved such that each of the directions casts the shadow of a different letter. Now, it is clearly not possible to do this with any three shapes. What conditions are necessary for it to be possible?

I suspect the answer to this is if each shape contains a point somewhere on every horizontal and vertical line, that guarantees that you can build the block. If this is not the case, as in the letter "I", restrictions are created on the other symbols: "I" "I" and "O" could be done, but "I" "O" and "O" couldn't.

This assumes that the block can be in pieces, though. If any of the shapes is disconnected, like an "O" with a dot in the center, the resulting block will be disconnected, too. Is there a set of shapes, though, where each shape is connected, but the resulting block must be disconnected? I can't think of any, but I'm not sure.

Iolanthe

I've been busy practicing; I'm in a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe in a couple weeks. If you're in the DC area, check it out! Call CHAW for tickets.