This week’s New Yorker magazine has an article by Anthony Gottlieb on different voting systems, including range voting.

WIN OR LOSE: No voting system is flawless. But some are less democratic than others. Can theorists engineer a better way to elect candidates?

The article provides an interesting introduction to some of the voting systems that have been developed and used over the centuries and the advantages and vulnerabilities. There’s no mention of Scantegrity or security or the general issue of verifiability, however.

It’s actually in the Book’s section, so I guess it is ostensibly a review of a new book “Numbers Rule: The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy, from Plato to the Present” by journalist and mathematician George Szpiro.

The article also mentions a book by William Poundstone, “Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren’t Fair (and What We Can Do About It)” which is a steal on amazon for $5.00. Such a steal that I ordered two last week, one for me and one to share. Poundstone, btw, has written some good popular books on a wide range of topics (e.g., game theory, technical interviewing techniques, etc). I’ve read quite a few and both enjoyed them and learned things. According to Wikipedia, he is a cousin of comedian Paula Poundstone!

Dr. Carter opened the last day of UMCP’s Dissertation House with a talk on the “Academic Job Search.”  The week has been filled with mini-lectures, interactive exercises, cohort community building, and writing.  Here are some photos from the Summer 2010 Dissertation House at College Park.

The "College-Gourmet" Burger

Sure, you could crave Mickey D’s, Wendy’s, Red Robin, or Johnny Rockets, and you may think it’s easier to get this all-American classic at a restaurant.  I think it’s worthwhile to share this great meal with friends and make it yourself.  When I think of summer, I think of a really great burger.  For some reason, I’m always craving that grilled flavor during the summer time.  I’m always looking for a great burger at a restaurant, but I’ve always told myself that I could make it myself!  I finally did, and I can’t want to share this recipe to you UMBC foodies!

Ingredients:

Burger patties:

• 1-1.25 pounds of 80% lean ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• Half a large vadalia onion, chopped or minced fine
• Handful of plain or Italian bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon of A1 steak sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Burger toppings:

• Spring mix salad mix (any lettuce)
• Roma tomatoes, sliced
• A1 sauce to taste
• Provolone cheese, sliced
• Whole wheat kaiser rolls, toasted

This recipe makes about 3-4 burgers, 1/4 – 1/3 pound per patty (depending on how big you like them!)

1. Mix the patty ingredients together in a large bowl.
   *TIP: Let the meat come to room temperature before mixing the other ingredients into the mix.  Make sure you don’t over work the meat; just incorporate the ingredients until they are well-combined.
2. Score (or divide) the meat mixture with your hands into 3 or 4 equal portions.  Form the patties into equal disks.
   *TIP: Make the center of the patty thinner than the outside of the patty.  Patties tend to rise a bit when they cook.
3. On a medium-medium high, non-stick skillet, cook the patties in the pan in olive oil.  The patties will take about 3-4 minutes on each side (or until a nice caramelized crust forms on both sides).
4. Finish the patties off by popping them in the oven at 325 degrees for 4-5 minutes (or until desired doneness) and place slices of cheese on the patties to melt it (on the last 1-2 minutes of cooking).
5. Assemble the burgers and enjoy!

The "College-Gourmet" Burger

Apple’s Safari browser has a privacy vulnerability allowing web sites you visit to extract your personal information (e.g., name, address, phone number) from your computer’s address book. The fix is to turn off Safari’s web form autofill feature, which is selected by default (Preferences > AutoFill > AutoFill web form).

It’s an interesting Javascript exploit that does not seem to be a problem for other browsers.