cal election officials are dealing with a myriad of issues ahead of November’s contentious midterms, not least of which is securing systems from malicious actors. One lesser-known problem that continues to concern them is the national shortage of poll workers.

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/10/22/few-people-want-to-be-poll-workers-and-thats-a-problem

http://theconversation.com/blockchains-wont-fix-internet-voting-security-and-could-make-it-worse-104830

Officials and companies who promote online voting are creating a false sense of security – and putting the integrity of the election process at risk. In seeking to use blockchains as a protective element, they may in fact be introducing new threats into the crucial mechanics of democracy.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/oct/15/blockchain-democracy-decentralisation-bitcoin-price-cryptocurrencies

A snippet:

**********

Faced with the public spectacle of a market bloodbath, boosters have fled to the last refuge of the crypto scoundrel: a defence of “blockchain,” the distributed-ledger software underpinning all cryptocurrencies. Blockchain has been heralded as a potential panacea for everything from poverty and famine to cancer. In fact, it is the most overhyped – and least useful – technology in human history.

https://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2017/sep/08/hurricane-irma-5-myths-about-hurricane-prep-forget/

Can I put valuables in my dishwasher? Can I drink the water I plan to store in my bathtub?

Even seasoned Floridians might not know whether their go-to hurricane tips are fact or fiction.

The urban-rural divide in American politics has been widely documented since the 2016 presidential election. But in the run-up to the 2018 midterm election, more attention has focused on the potential political battlegrounds in the suburbs.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/02/5-facts-about-u-s-suburbs/

Just over half of Facebook users ages 18 and older (54%) say they have adjusted their privacy settings in the past 12 months, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Around four-in-ten (42%) say they have taken a break from checking the platform for a period of several weeks or more, while around a quarter (26%) say they have deleted the Facebook app from their cellphone. All told, some 74% of Facebook users say they have taken at least one of these three actions in the past year.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/americans-are-changing-their-relationship-with-facebook/

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/what-is-a-comma-splice

Once you learn about comma splices, you notice them everywhere,…

http://theconversation.com/why-theres-so-much-inconsistency-in-school-shooting-data-102318

A closer look at this survey shows why the U.S. Department of Education’s data was so inaccurate.

For most Americans, exposure to different content and ideas on social media has not caused them to change their opinions. But a small share of the public – 14% – say they have changed their views about a political or social issue in the past year because of something they saw on social media, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted May 29-June 11.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/15/14-of-americans-have-changed-their-mind-about-an-issue-because-of-something-they-saw-on-social-media/

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/sentence-length

If you’ve resolved to tame your inner Proust, here are a couple of suggestions.