Voter database

A voter database is a database containing information on voters for the purpose of assisting a political party or an individual politician, in their Get out the vote (GOTV) efforts and other areas of the campaign.

In most countries, the election agency makes the electoral roll available to all campaigns soon after the election campaign has begun. Campaigns can then merge this information with the other data they have collected on voters over the years to create their database. Often basic information such as phone numbers and postal codes are not included on the voters list, and the campaign will have to procure this data as well.

The United States has no state or federal election agency, and thus no central lists. In 2002, the United States Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). HAVA required that each state compile an official state voter database by January 2006. Most states complied with HAVA by gathering the voter files available from each individual county. States decided what information to include, what restrictions to place on the use of their voter database, and how much the database would cost. In the United States, several companies have merged state voter information with commercially obtained data to create comprehensive voter databases that include a plethora of personal details on each voter. These companies often provide United States Voter Files to statutorily permitted or otherwise non-restricted users.

Software

Computer software also called a program or simply software is any set of instructions that directs a computer to perform specific tasks or operations. Computer software consists of computer programs, libraries and related non-executable data (such as online documentation or digital media). Computer software is non-tangible, contrasted with computer hardware, which is the physical component of computers. Computer hardware and software require each other and neither can be realistically used without the other.

At the lowest level, executable code consists of machine language instructions specific to an individual processor—typically a central processing unit (CPU). A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. For example, an instruction may change the value stored in a particular storage location in the computer—an effect that is not directly observable to the user. An instruction may also (indirectly) cause something to appear on a display of the computer system—a state change which should be visible to the user. The processor carries out the instructions in the order they are provided, unless it is instructed to "jump" to a different instruction, or interrupted.

Software (novel)

Software is a 1982 cyberpunk science fiction novel written by Rudy Rucker. It won the first Philip K. Dick Award in 1983. The novel is the first book in Rucker's Ware Tetralogy, and was followed by a sequel, Wetware, in 1988.

Plot summary

Software introduces Cobb Anderson as a retired computer scientist who was once tried for treason for figuring out how to give robots artificial intelligence and free will, creating the race of boppers. By 2020, they have created a complex society on the Moon, where the boppers developed because they depend on super-cooled superconducting circuits. In that year, Anderson is a pheezer — a freaky geezer, Rucker's depiction of elderly Baby Boomers — living in poverty in Florida and terrified because he lacks the money to buy a new artificial heart to replace his failing, secondhand one.

As the story begins, Anderson is approached by a robot duplicate of himself who invites him to the Moon to be given immortality. Meanwhile, the series' other main character, Sta-Hi Mooney the 1st — born Stanley Hilary Mooney Jr. — a 25-year-old cab driver and "brainsurfer", is kidnapped by a gang of serial killers known as the Little Kidders who almost eat his brain. When Anderson and Mooney travel to the Moon together at the boppers' expense, they find that these events are closely related: the "immortality" given to Anderson turns out to be having his mind transferred into software via the same brain-destroying technique used by the Little Kidders.

Software (development cooperation)

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Further reading

Ear

The ear is the organ of the sense of hearing, and in mammals is also an organ of balance. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of the auricle or pinna, and the ear canal. The middle ear includes the tympanic cavity and the three ossicles. The inner ear consists of the bony labyrinth which contains the semicircular canals, and the utricle and saccule of the vestibular system, to do with balance, and the cochlea a part of the auditory system.

The ear develops from the first pharyngeal pouch and six small swellings that develop in the early embryo called otic placodes, which are derived from ectoderm.

A number of conditions may relate to the ear, including hearing loss, tinnitus and balance disorders including vertigo, however these may also relate to diseases affecting the pathways in the brain relating to hearing and balance.

Although the entire organ is considered as the ear, it is often just referred to as the visible outer part. In most mammals, the visible ear is a flap of tissue that is also called the pinna (or auricle in humans) and is the first stage in hearing. The ears of vertebrates are placed somewhat symmetrically on either side of the head, an arrangement that aids sound localization.

EARS

EARS may refer to:

See also