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Professor at Rice University. I work on human factors and human-computer interaction. Current main projects are voting system usability, computational modeling, surgical training. Was MikeByrneHFHCI@twitter
Yes, I've heard that the FBI is now recommending that we use End-to-End encryption. Yes, I am worried about dying of an irony overdose.

Weirdly, I have hobbies, and one of them is music. This is short and simple, but it is my first original composition and I played it. Also did the recording, mixing, and mastering. Spotify and Apple now, but should land on other services soon.

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mikebyrne/departure

Departure by Mike Byrne

Stream and Save Departure - Distributed by DistroKid

DistroKid
Remember that elections are extremely complex events, and each jurisdiction - over 5000 in the US! - does things a little differently, governed by state law and local practice. When someone shows you video or other "proof" of some supposed nefarious activity in a place you aren't specifically familiar with, be skeptical. If there's wrongdoing, there are avenues for them to come forward and prove it.
If you're going to talk to a smart assistant out loud in front of other people, at least give your shortcuts names which sound like like trashy thrillers.

Tired: Hey Siri, turn out the lights.
Wired: Siri, activate the Hades contingency. Alexa, initiate project Dædalus. Okay Google, proceed to omega phase.

Start with a dramatic action verb like "engage", "commence", or "execute". Throw in a mythological figure which needn't have any actual relation to the action set. Then round it out with a nonsense word from an espionage drama, like "protocol", "sequence", "directive", or so on.
Wow, thanks Apple for that super helpful error message. What a UI fail. 🙄
This is going to be amazing. Right, @mbernhard ?
It’s not every day you run into two of your favorite musicians randomly in the Phoenix airport but there you go. So gracious.
I shed a tear every time a math term I love becomes the name of an AI company or a hedge fund.

https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2024/03/18/gillespie-county-texas-republican-primary-hand-count-election-errors-discrepancies/

So, hand counting is both slow and inaccurate? If only someone had known that in advance.

Oh wait, we did.

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/elj.2017.0440?journalCode=elj%27

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/elj.2010.0098

I fully understand the urge to do things to improve election integrity. But doing things that clearly make it worse? Not so much.

Texas county’s GOP officials declared hand count a success, but kept finding errors

After declaring a successful hand count of ballots, Gillespie County Republicans had to fix a series of errors in the results reported from almost every precinct.

Votebeat
Anyway, please be extra nice to election officials. They have an essential job that's difficult under even the best circumstances, but right now they're being forced to put up with more bullshit than anyone should have to see in a lifetime.