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| 'I don't like it!' | |
Computers are a
wonderful example of modern technology - they enable
more processing, and greater economies of scale
than our forebears would have dreamed. But they also enable greater
stuff-ups. The NSW Electoral Commission is in crisis because they can't count
(or at least process) the Senate votes for the last election. Jokes about
having to wait for a result until Easter appear to be understated - we may be
waiting until the second coming. Your ABC reports
The Electoral Commissioner, John Wasson, says it is not entirely his fault."The problems which have arisen were [of] a technological nature and I guess
that's all I can say," he said.
Right, a public
servant denying responsibility, and
insisting his job isn't to understand technology, just to boss
the people around who do. And it sounds like they need some bossing around too
- either that or they need to be left alone to solve the computer problems. Apparently all of the results have been faithfully entered into a computer
database, and all that is needed is to run the program to count the results.
A non-trivial, but not overly complex process - even for the 4 million votes
which have to counted. But computer experts know that just because computers are predictable, doesn't
mean that you can predict their results. Every self-respecting computer nerd
knows that if you don't get the result you want, sometimes you have to keep
running the computer program until you do. And apparently the NSW electoral commission doesn't like the results they are
getting from the computer program, and are going to keep going until they get a
result they like. With Pauline
Hanson still trailing behind the Shooters Party, and still not knowing
whether she will win her coveted final Senate seat, she may be quite justified
in demanding 'Please Explain?'.
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