Probably would have been a lot of pushback from Amazon if the government was trying to seize servers from one of their data centers. It sounds like the servers (if they were seized) belongd to a Scytl data center.

I read somewhere that Scytl had a backup server in Germany. It wouldn't have been the U.S. Army that seized it. It would have been either the CIA or an agency connected to the State Dept. They would have to coordinate and get approval from Germany. Totally possible based on my experience with the Federal government.

If it did happen, I imagine it would have been pre-planned and worked out with Germany months ago. It sounds like many agencies were already prepped to do these things. Again, I don't know if it really happened but I don't doubt that it could get done in this time frame.

I wouldn't focus on the insecurity. True they are insecure but there would be different irregularities in the data if this was a result of a hack or exploit.

So who here believes that some type of meaningful fraud took place and who here is opposed to that idea? Just want to get my bearing.

Enough to change the results of the elections from Trump to Biden

Seems to me based on my brief look at the data that MI, WI, and PA may have had meaningful fraud. Not sure about AZ, NV and GA. The data isn't as clear there. Limit that also to a handful of cities/precincts in the three suspect states. Maybe other explainations but it is concerning that eyewitness testimony validate strange happenings along with strange data.

I understood that there was a datastream from Edison Research that most news agencies used.

Suspicious, but I would have to know the technology and methods being used in ER data stream to say for certain that this is indication of fraud.

I would say it depends on who know about the fraud in that case. I've seen multiple examples of the votes changing in this stream and it could be indicative of fraud or just someone typing in the numbers and mixing them up. I haven't seen any information on how the processes to make any further determiniations.

All this is seems to be the result of a rush to get through the process.

Have to br patient. It may be someone has evidence. Not a whole lot that can be done without damning evidence at this point imho.

Some of these states honestly need to be held accountable for their incompetence if nothing else. Incompetence and conspiracy look similar from the outside.

I worked for the Federal govt. Pretty confident I could make that claim with no evidence and have it stick after an investigation on any given day.

It seems likely that would have been a situation she would have encountered before if she had really been doing this for 20 years don't ya think?

I thought that too though.

So far I'm not convinced either way other than there was some strange stuff going on. All these claims needs to be investigated. The numbers are definitely strange.

I've been reaching out to some of friends that are currently or prior DIA and they are very uncomfortable with what is going on. I haven't gotten any good statements or evidence from them, but they are pretty spooked with everything going on.

They know something they aren't willing to say probably about some of the investigations that have been made public yet surrounding this. Did have one who said that there was evidence that the Chinese consulate in Houston was smuggling weapons in to groups like Antifa and may have been involved in election tampering and that is one of the unpublished reasons why it was closed.

I think you would have to prove intent the deceive which is hard to do. Part of the reason it is so hard to prosecute white collar crimes.

For criminal charges at least it would have to be beyond resonable doubt. Hard to prove in these types of cases.

Interestingly enough, I was reading somewhere that the word Kracken may have been the project name for the software that tampered with the votes and not just a reference to Clash of the Titans. That it was an indication to people involved that she really did have evidence.

For me, it will be hard to say until it all either comes out or nothing happens.

So similar to Red Owl?

The problem isn't that their isn't honest politicians, its figuring out which ones are honest through all of the BS.

If you're going by Nietsche nearly everything of importance will be hard to define.

LOL.

Our system was setup to assume dishonest politicians. The Federalist documents are pretty clear on that point.

Amen Doc.

That's my big problem with Democrats lately. I don't really like any political party but the Dems seem to be the ones right now trying tear down the checks and balances. Republicans have their own set of problems. There isn't going to be any salvaging if those things get dismantled.

Where do you hail from?

Which part? I spent a great deal of time training with NATO at Oreland AB near Trondheim.

Hey, you only have to be a citizen for 7 years in order to run for a congressional seat. Sounds like you have more respect for what our government should look like than most of our elected respresentatives.

Yep. You would be on AoCs list pretty quick.

I would say it is about half and half. Half are trying to slow it down and the other half are trying to speed it up. Worried that is going to cause a civil war. People have been hoarding guns and ammo for the last 10-months (but is really been going on for about a decade.

Yep liberty tree, blood of tyrants and partriots. All that jazz.

That's why many of the founders didn't want popular elections.

There are a lot of people that go singing to the polls to vote for their own destruction.

Nice Doc, not heard of that group before.

They are getting added to my wishlist.

playlist

Ehh. You can have a better quality mix and a worse quality song. I prefer better quality music.

Yeah? I love Stravinsky and Gustav Mahler. The other European band I've been listening to lately is Heilung.

Oh yeah. Wagner is good. Love the orchestration in The Ring Cycle.

Europe has changed a lot since I've been there. There are places I used to frequent in Germany, Belgium, and France where westerners aren't welcome anymore.

I was in Germany in 2001 when they moved from the marks to the euros. Lots of immigration while I was there. There were a lot of military members being threatened and attacked all over the place by the time I left. It was a big change in only a few years.

Really? I watched it on TV. I was still in school. I know a lot of Germans that are very unhappy with their government right now.

Yeah, France is in the same boat.

Have a good morning.

You too! I'll be around from now on so hope to talk to you again.

Yeah, we were just discussing fine music and the fall of the western world.

I don't feel that way because appointments have happened within the bounds of tradition and the law, it's just been publicized more than when Democrats tilted and maintained a left-leaning supreme court for decades. I don't have a problem with either side doing that within those bounds. It's the court packing, changing a states electorial votes to match the national popular votes, stacking electorial votes by adding new states or districts, and calls to abolish the electoral college and eliminate the 2A that I have problem with. I would have a problem with either side doing those things.

I fully expect the SC to swing the other direction before too long. Some areas of the country might never have a voice again if some of the other things are done.

I'm not sure how that is going to pan out. It's not getting a lot of press but Biden is getting a lot of pressure to go full steam ahead on a lot of bad gun legislation and executive orders from what I've heard. NFA or mandatory buybacks of AR rifles, additional taxes for any gun owner, no magazine over 10-rounds, etc. I'm hoping that those are just token offers and are serious policy goals.

At least half of the country doesn't trust the government enough for that to go over well in my opinion.

That's not going to go over well with the normal everyday conservatives, especially after the election. The healing isn't going to happen unless there are some apologies given to everyday Americans for how they have been treated.

For example, I'm not a Trump fan but my 85-year old grandmother is and had a Trump sticker on her car and had thousands of dollars worth of damage done to it. She was stranded at a grocery store by her self for hours until someone could come pick her up and had to borrow money from her kids to pay the deductable to have it fixed. These things have been a lot more common than has been reported and I'm telling you, it is going to take more than a shady election and calls for unity (while still being slandered) for that divide to be fixed after so many things like this have happened.

I'm not even a Trumper and I damn sure not going to unify with a party that isn't going to apologize for excusing and encouraging that kind of behavior against normal citizens. I'm not angry with you. I just feel like people don't understand why the healing and unity is going to take more than "hey, we won, now lets be friends." That being said, I know a lot of moderates who are Democrats who I will always do my best to treat with respect as long as that respect is mutual. I don't want to judge all Democrats by the bad actors but someone has to start apologizing and making these things right. Talking down to people and telling them they are racist after they have been assaulted and had property destroyed is just going to anger them. Just saying. Unity and healing isn't going to happen for most of America until mutual respect for each side is restored and I don't see that happening soon. I'm honestly just hoping it doesn't get worse at this point.

Again, just trying to be honest with how I see things.

I hope more parts of the country can learn to live like you have. We get along pretty well here in Nebraska. Most of my family lives in Colorado and they have had a lot more problems between people in the two parties.

I agree. There is a great diversity of opinions in the Democratic party and with liberals. I think the issue is the farthest left appear to be driving the agenda. It seems to me that Trump was a symptom of that rather the type of person or could generate a following without a significant external force. Also, there has been a very significant cultural divide between rural areas and urban areas. Each is very ignorant of the challenges the other faces and the unique legal considerations that each environment needs. I grew up in a small ranching town and live in a bigger midwestern city. Most people live their whole lives in one environment and it is handicapping our ability to communicate about important things.

That becomes a problem when your wife's preferences are exactly opposite of your own and you only have enough money to buy one pint of ice cream.

Do you believe most American's have that granular of choice now? It almost seems like you can't get away from chosing a party platform at this point, so if you are Democrat you will vote for anti-2A and if you are Republican you will vote for a pro-2A candidate whether you like it or not.

That is why I lean more libertarian and states rights than anything else. The high up the chain you push the decision making the worse outcome and more people you will disenfranchise.

The other was the electoral college, which the most progressive Democrats want to abolish. I would probably push back on the 90% in common idea the more I think about it. Rural life and city life are very different. I would estimate maybe 40% of the same issues between city and rural and 90%+ within each.

I think that is an important issue but what does it matter if 3/3 of politicians in DC come from cities and have no idea of the unique issues rural Americans face and I believe conservative values probably are necessary (or at least ideal) in the type of environment and work that needs to be done in that environment. Vice versa for urban areas. Most farmers and ranchers can't image the challenges that come with living in a city. Practically speaking, the Green New Deals and other progressive platforms put a disproportionate burden on rural Americans. IMHO that mechanism is what originally got Trump elected and I don't see anyone trying to fix that. I do see people talking down to each other and having no clue the implications of what each thinks is a good idea. These are policies and ideas that may not impact the 90% you mention for some and devastate it for others and that isn't being represented by the federal government well.

There are different paths to meet those goals in each environment. $6 a gallon gas may not be a big burden for someone who lives in NYC with public transportation but to a farmer in Nebraska or rancher in Colorado, or lumberjack in Wyoming, that is the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry if you get what I'm saying. Those two positions have not been represented well in our federal government and it is a driving factor behind the divisiveness in my opinion. There are people who are in great anxiety right now over Biden's election because it may very well mean the end of their ability to provide for their families or a drastic decline in their standard of living (not to mention the moral and cultural implications).

Hmm. Military?

That's great. I also traveled all over the world. I was also lucky in that I grew up working on ranches and in the Colorado working as a lumberjack, joined the military, now work for a French company in a bigger city doing white collar work. I know many people who have lived in the same 5 mile radius of NYC or SF and some people who have grown and lived in the same town with a population of 3,000 or their whole lives. Those two groups do not understand each other.

I did training in the AF at Wichita Falls TX so I recognized that as a military town. I would have guessed Navy from the other locations.

Air Force, Germany, Norway, France, Texas, California, Spain, Qatar, Iraq for me.

Those last two I could have done without but the rest was great. I appreciate now as I am getting older how valuable the experience of traveling and seeing different ways of doing things has been.

Those are all places where I was not stationed. Offutt, Shephard, Lackland, Edwards, Vandenberg, and Spangdahlem.

It was just Hanau Army Airfield when I was there.

In Germany, I never it made it to the base but we had people come over to Spangdahlem for NCO training.

Again, I honestly think that was the biggest driver behind the election of Trump. Terrible move for the Republican party but I understand why it happened. Still rather see Trump in office than Biden (Harris really) but that's more because I think some of the most radical left positions are going to be pushed and it's going to cause big problem. I probably would have voted for Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang over Trump but they seem half way reasonable to me.

I would say progressives have done a horrible job representing everybody fairly, mostly because they are ignorant of how many Americans live.

Well, that was something that Trump actually did well overall minus the whole Solemani incident.

I've never liked Trump, but I do appreciate the good things he has done. He would have been much better off to not say really anything at all after he was elected. Many of his policy decisions have been good.

That's a far point.

*fair

Ex SW architect and developer. Security architect and hacker (penetration tester and red team member) now.

Also used to be an aircraft mechanic.

That's one of the things he didn't do so well. I was very happy he was addressing trade deficits but that was handled poorly. On the other hand, I haven't heard any better approaches either. I personally would have probably left that one alone over cause the problems to American businesses that it did.

So, Oracle, SQL, Hadoop, NoSQL?

I spent so much time in school learning relational models and as soon as I got out everyone started denormalizing and moving to things like elastic search and Mongo. That was fun.

At least on many of the projects I worked.

Haven't done a lot with SyBase or DB2 but Oracle, Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server I know well.

Ruby is awesome, almost as good as Python. I have to work up the motivation to learn Go and Rust. I hear those are the up and coming languages for all the new toys.

Python and R are the two defactor ML and AI languages so you will have to pick one.

Oh, that sounds like a fun problem. I'm just learning Azure. Have some experience with AWS, Google Cloud, and some other small providers.

I wishing banking and finance would have a big push to the cloud. It would be so much more secure and easier to manage than our on-prem stuff.

The offerings for each are nearly identical, VMs, containers, virtual networks, big data, AI and ML, relational and nosql databases, storage, hot failover, etc. It's just learning the details of whats were and the little unique issues.

*what is where

If you are interested in playing with it Microsoft Learn walks you through the environment and lets you spin up environments for free. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/

I change my mind, that doesn't sound like fun.

I'm getting tired and must have misunderstood your comment. Again, same thing different skin. I'm honestly surprised by how similar all the platforms are. It's like they clone the same underlying architecture to some extent.

I heard rumors that they were all built on openstack but I'm not sure how true that is.

We did a similar thing with calculations our bioinformatics department was doing on mouse DNA while I was in graduate school. Someone had written a python script to process all the data on a cluster of high powered machines and it tooks about 36 hours. We rewrote it to using CUDA and cut it down to about 5 minutes. Really just a whole bunch matrix math and graphic cards are optimized for that type of operation. I'm sure you can't share the details of algorithm but it sounds very interesting.

That's one of the things that is getting rusty for me in security is algorithms and data structures. Lots of assembly, shellcode, scripting, crypto, etc. Not as much optimization and engineering..