what a spectator sport! my riding was an extremely close race, with the conservatives barely defeating the ndp. check out those numbers, absolutely ridiculous. if paul martin hadn't scared everyone with his "a vote for the ndp or green is a vote for the antichrist" rhetoric the ndp probably would have taken this one.

update 06-30-04
there was a recount due to election rules that dictate "an automatic recount if the difference between the first and second-place candidates is less than one one-thousandth of the votes cast at the election."

the final result ends up being a bit more of a spread (damn), but still close:

i'm a lousy self-promoter. i always forget to point people off to other things i'm doing, probably because i forget i'm doing them. that said, check out the june canadian content - includes interviews with aidan baker, ross birdwise, and kim brunhuber. also reviews of stone boat, the man who hated emily brontë, and the film the delicate art of parking.

i've been rambling to friends about the idea of some kind of wireless traffic management system for a few years, having spent far too much of my young life on public roads. i wasn't sure any country would ever get through the public pushback in order to actually implement it.

rfid news features an article that highlights the use of rfid technology for this purpose:

The UK-based vehicle licence plate manufacturer, Hills Numberplates Ltd, has chosen long-range RFID tags and readers from Identec Solutions to be embedded in licence plates that will automatically and reliably identify vehicles in the UK.

...

The plates are the same shape and size as conventional plates, and are permanently fitted to the vehicle in the same way. But each e-Plate contains an embedded tag with a unique, encrypted identification number that is transmitted by the tag for detection by RFID readers. Multiple tags can be read simultaneously by a single reader at speeds of up to 320km per hour (200mph), up to 100 metres (300 feet) away.


The reader network, which includes fixed location readers (for use on the roadside) and portable readers (for use in surveillance vehicles and handheld devices), sends the unique identifier in real time to a central system where it is matched with the corresponding vehicle data such as registration number, owner details, make, model, colour, and tax/insurance renewal dates.

advantages:

• traffic flow management


• anti-theft implications

disadvantages:

• may prevent speeding/reckless driving


• other vague privacy/big brother concerns

i suspect the primary public outcry will be over the idea that people can't speed when this kind of system is in place. my comment to that is why on earth do you think you can speed in the first place? too many people consider the ability to speed as some kind of right. which is odd given that the rule of the land says you can't do it. frankly, i don't know why vehicles don't come with speed-regulating governors as standard. vehicle manufacturers have been allowed to build machines of high-speed death with marketing campaigns that often focus heavily on the idea of how fast the machine can travel. this goes against common sense and statistics which indicate that the primary cause of automobile death involves speed.

we manage to crack down hard (not hard enough) on tobacco manufacturers, but do little to curb the ability for people to travel 200 km/hr. sure, we tell them they shouldn't and that if they do they will get a ticket. but why don't we go a step further and actually disallow the manufacture of automobiles that make possible this kind of activity? the difference with the crackdown on smoking and speeding is that smoking is illegal. speeding is not. yet we harangue cigarette manufacturers and let the auto industry off. as well, we don't allow cigarette advertising (in canada) but we allow car commercials to exhibit and encourage illegal behaviour.

but, then, i agree with tim roth's sentiment: "Driving terrifies me--it's like having a fucking gun and firing off in the general direction" of where you're trying to go.

(rfid article via daily wireless)