Genii Weblog


Civility in critiquing the ideas of others is no vice. Rudeness in defending your own ideas is no virtue.


Thu 9 Sep 2004, 04:46 PM
Ed Brill has announced the opening of the 2005 Lotus Awards nomination process on his weblog.  I am trying to decide whether to enter our Midas Rich Text LSX in the Best Tool/Utility Solution category.  I have mixed feelings about awards, as evidenced by the fact that I haven't nominated Midas for any awards anywhere in the past six years.  I did nominate it for a Beacon Award, as the Lotus Awards used to be known, in 1998, but I was informed by those on the inside that they weren't about to recognize a product that did core functionality better than Notes.

Times changes, and my relationship with IBM/Lotus is somewhat better.  In addition, IBM seems less worried about encroachment on their territory.  Still, I can't quite decide.  Here are the choices as I see them:

1) Leave well enough alone.  Midas already sells better than I, or anyone else, could have dreamed possible, so clearly awards aren't that important.

2) Nominate Midas myself.  Most tool/utility solutions seem to be self-nominated, even if the rules imply that IBM would prefer nomination by somebody else.

3) See if one of my customers or business partners is interested in nominating Midas.  *** This is an extremely broad hint, so if you think to yourself, "Why, I could do that!", don't hold back. ***

What do you all think?  You can let me know here, or by e-mail to  if you are feeling shy.

Copyright © 2004 Genii Software Ltd.

Thu 9 Sep 2004, 07:16 AM
This is about elections, but not about the candidates or anything specifically partisan.  Instead, it is about voting mchines.  Read this quote, confirmed by the link given in the quote to the LA Times story, from http://www.electoral-vote.com
Now some voting machine news. The state of California has decided to sue Diebold, the nation's largest manufacturer of electronic (touch screen) voting machines because the company lied about the machines' security. The machines have a special feature that creates fake vote totals when a secret 2-digit code is typed in. The LA Times article about the lawsuit does not specify whether there are separate codes to fake a Bush victory and fake a Kerry victory or whether one candidate's victory has been programmed in advance or whether election officials can enter any result they want. However, Diebold's CEO, Walden O'Dell, has said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes for the president." The suit comes 6 months after the machines failed in the March primary. The machines are used in 19 California counties and many states nationwide.
Now, doesn't that give a chill?  Sure, it worries me about things like fair votes and such, but it also reminds me of Secret Agent Decoder Rings in cereal boxes.  A secret 2-digit code is all that stands in the way of electoral fairness.  Guess that will stop them, Batman!

Copyright © 2004 Genii Software Ltd.