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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (121837)	1/11/2001 12:31:40 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Unisys enrolls Microsoft, Dell to build better ballots By Sandeep Junnarkar Staff Writer, CNET News.com January 11, 2001, 9:10 a.m. PT Where political pundits saw a near constitutional crisis during the presidential vote-counting fiasco in Florida last year, some leading technology companies are seeing a golden opportunity. Unisys, a maker of mainframe computers, announced Thursday that it is teaming up with Microsoft and Dell Computer to create a technology-based system that could replace what many call antiquated ballot-counting machines now scattered across the country. Unisys, based in Blue Bell, Pa., will act as an integrator of the various technologies that will be used to create the voting system. Dell will supply the computers, touch-screen monitors and keyboards, while Microsoft will create the software to operate the system, a Unisys representative said. This coalition is one of the more recent efforts announced. It will face a slew of players--from start-ups that focus solely on voting systems to other tech giants such as IBM--which are also salivating at the opportunity to replace the much-maligned systems now in use. Only a week after last year's presidential election, Cisco Systems and Compaq Computer were among those who pumped $10 million into Bellevue, Wash.-based VoteHere.net, bringing the start-up's total funding to $15 million. The company makes secure online voting systems. Last fall's tight presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush and doubts about the accuracy of the vote count in Florida and elsewhere led to an election night that dragged on for 36 days and as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. Bush finally won Florida's electors by a margin of only 537 votes. The turmoil led to angry calls from federal, state and local officials as well as voter organizations to overhaul the election process, which today includes mechanical methods such as punch-card systems and paper ballots, and to a lesser degree optical scanning systems. yahoo.cnet.com

To: Bill who wrote (121837)	1/11/2001 12:31:41 PM
From: Zoltan!	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

I never understood the appeal of Volvos - I believe that's Latin for "it rolls". They were always a decade behind in design although they are more current now; copied the 1994 Accord for their current design, previous had been the Ford Fairmont. I thought their appeal was just to commie libs. You must be the exception Good article: European and Asian rivals are attacking Detroit’s last bastion of profits, full-size trucks and SUVs By Bill Vlasic / The Detroit News DETROIT The erosion has been steady and relentless, a constant chipping away in every segment from bargain-basement small cars to muscular full-size pickup trucks. Where once Detroit automakers had a few unbreachable strongholds in the U.S. auto market, they are now under assault from foreign competitors at every turn. In 2000, the best sales year in the history of the American auto market, the biggest winners hailed from overseas. According to the research firm Autodata Corp., the combined market share of the domestic brands offered by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler AG skidded from 68.5 percent to an all-time low of 65.6 percent amid an onslaught of light trucks from Japan, sedans from Germany and compacts from Korea. When the dust cleared in a record 17.4-million sales year, sales of the Big Three’s hometown brands dropped 1.7 percent in a market that went up 2.7 percent. Sales of Asian nameplates, by comparison, increased 12.1 percent, and European brands soared 12.3 percent. Detroit nameplates are under attack on all flanks — design, quality, image, product and price. And there’s no end in sight. A flood of new products from European and Asian manufacturers will ratchet up the pressure on Detroit to hold onto its share. With industry sales expected to head downhill this year, the competition will only intensify.... detnews.com Good series: detnews.com Good review: edmunds.com