463: Voting Machines

2015-01-11T06:16:35Z

108.162.246.198: Kind of surprised the connection between "protection" and security wasn't touched upon.

{{comic
| number = 463
| date = August 15, 2008
| title = Voting Machines
| image = voting_machines.png
| titletext = And that's *another* crypto conference I've been kicked out of. C'mon, it's a great analogy!
}}

==Explanation==
In the 2008 Ohio primary elections, there were numerous problems with electronic voting machines, which eventually required many districts to revert to pen and paper. Premier Election Solutions, the company that handled the machines, [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/08/ohio-voting-machines-contained.html blamed these problems] on {{w|McAfee}} anti-virus software.

It is not uncommon to see computer software contract stipulating that the vendor will warrant that software and systems delivered will not contain any viruses or malicious code — a knee-jerk reaction to this for novice management is to include virus-scanning software for systems which otherwise are closed. From a computer programming standpoint, having anti-virus software on an electronic voting machine doesn't make sense because the machine shouldn't be accessing the Internet in a way that would leave it open to virus attacks. While there are a lot of ways that viruses can propagate, ultimately the computer still has to download an executable file and run it, which is something that ''no election machine should do'' in normal operation. Hence the question is whether the voting machine manufacturer has taken the proper precaution preventing any external access.

Ideally, voting machines (as well as ATMs and other single-purpose appliances) should be {{w|embedded system}}s, incapable of doing the things that might necessitate anti-virus software. However, in practice such devices are more commonly built as application programs running on ordinary Windows PCs (inside of custom-shaped cases), and they download software updates over the internet.

The comic makes an analogy to a teacher who reassures you that he always wears a condom when teaching. While a condom could be considered "protection", and therefore a good thing, common sense dictates that teachers should never end up in a situation where wearing a condom in school would be useful; this parallels the idea that while security in the form of anti-virus software on voting machines could also be considered protection and a good thing, it should never be required. The comment is more likely to make people worried about why the condom is there and what purpose it's serving. Similarly, informed people might worry why a voting machine is connecting to the internet.

In panel one, both the {{w|facepalm}} and [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/youre-doing-it-wrong "You're doing it wrong"] are {{w|Internet meme}}s, used to mock someone who made a foolish mistake.

The title text refers to [[153: Cryptography]].

==Transcript==
:Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold) has blamed Ohio voting machine errors on problems with the machines' McAfee antivirus software.

:[Cueball is sitting at a computer, facepalming.]
:Cueball: Wait. "Antivirus software"? On voting machines? ''You're doing it wrong.''

:[Cueball's friend enters the frame and speaks to Cueball.]
:Friend: Why? Security is good, right?
:Cueball: Of course. But, well—

:Cueball: Imagine you're at a parent-teacher conference, and the teacher reassures you that he always wears a condom while teaching.

:Friend: Ah. Strictly speaking, it's better than the alternative—
:Cueball: —Yet someone is clearly doing their job horribly wrong.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:1115: Sky

2014-07-30T06:49:58Z

108.162.246.198:

As anyone who read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_%28series%29 Ender's Game] know, "The enemy's gate is down". t must be noted that mentioned gate was in a zero-gravity environment so the usual definition of down being the direction gravitation is pulling us was not applicable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:09, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
The enemy's gate is down.

Furthermore, the last panel might be a reference to {{w|Nietzsche}}'s quote: "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you".

Additionally, it might also allude to the law of gravity, as it operates in the realm of {{w|Cartoon physics}}. This interpretation would seem to match the 'perspective inversion' theme of the entire comic.[[Special:Contributions/123.237.156.4|123.237.156.4]] 08:14, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

I think the comment about a bottomless hole is misleading but I am not certain. the mass of the walls of the hole as well as surrounding matter would create a definite gravitational force, as would any gases or liquids that fill the hole. There would be a point (or possibly surface or line) depending on the composition and shape of whatever the bottomless hole is in as well as the contents and shape of the hole itself where the net gravitational force is zero, with all areas surrounding this point (surface or line) having gravitational forces pointing in the direction of the point/surface/line, unless the hole is in a body that extends in one direction off into infinity, in which case the mass of the entire system would be continually collapsing into a black hole as the mass of the body is infinite.

The comic also encapsulates a feeling about the sky. If you lie down in a flat area like the american southwest, all you can see is sky. All you can see is sky. All of the sudden, it feels like one little push could send you flying. You get the feeling that you are laying on a round, small surface, and are enveloped by a huge blue sky. In "Death comes for the Archbishop" There is a one line description of this feeling.

"The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still, — and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, under one's feet, but what one saw when one looked about was that brilliant blue world of stinging air and moving cloud. Even the mountains were mere ant-hills under it. Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky. The landscape one longed for when one was away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky! --Death Comes to the Archbishop, Book VII, Ch. 4" [ http://www.en.wikibooks.org/wiki/American_Literature/20th_Century/Willa_Cather link title]

This comic seeks to describe that feeling of "The earth being the floor of the sky"
--[[Special:Contributions/71.81.151.163|71.81.151.163]] 00:41, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Shouldn't his beret be shown on the ground? [[User:Xyz|Xyz]] ([[User talk:Xyz|talk]]) 19:34, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
:[[291|Staples]]. [[User:Squornshellous Beta|Squornshellous Beta]] ([[User talk:Squornshellous Beta|talk]]) 14:53, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else reminded of the Stone Tower Temple from Majora's Mask? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.180|173.245.63.180]] 08:41, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

;Add this to the incomplete explanations list
There's no coverage on the title text. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.90|173.245.54.90]] 02:52, 30 May 2014 (UTC)
:Done. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:42, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

I added an explanation on the title text. Anyone can feel free to correct it as they see fit. [[User:Codefreak5|Codefreak5]] ([[User talk:Codefreak5|talk]]) 13:08, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it's a reference to Patema Inverted or Upside Down? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.198|108.162.246.198]] 06:49, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

463: Voting Machines

Talk:1115: Sky