The New South Wales iVote System: Security Failures and Verification Flaws in a Live Online Election

In the world's largest-ever deployment of online voting, the iVote Internet voting system was trusted for the return of 280,000 ballots in the 2015 state election in New South Wales, Australia. During the election, we performed an independent security analysis of parts of the live iVote system and uncovered severe vulnerabilities that could be leveraged to manipulate votes, violate ballot privacy, and subvert the verification mechanism. These vulnerabilities do not seem to have been detected by the election authorities before we disclosed them, despite a pre-election security review and despite the system having run in a live state election for five days. One vulnerability, the result of including analytics software from an insecure external server, exposed some votes to complete compromise of privacy and integrity. At least one parliamentary seat was decided by a margin much smaller than the number of votes taken while the system was vulnerable. We also found protocol flaws, including vote verification that was itself susceptible to manipulation. This incident underscores the difficulty of conducting secure elections online and carries lessons for voters, election officials, and the e-voting research community

Justice Expectations and Applicant Perceptions

Expectations, which are beliefs about a future state of affairs, constitute a basic psychological mechanism that underlies virtually all human behavior. Although expectations serve as a central component in many theories of organizational behavior, they have received limited attention in the organizational justice literature. The goal of this paper is to introduce the concept of justice expectations and explore its implications for understanding applicant perceptions. To conceptualize justice expectations, we draw on research on expectations conducted in multiple disciplines. We discuss the three sources of expectations – direct experience, indirect influences, and other beliefs - and use this typology to identify the likely antecedents of justice expectations in selection contexts. We also discuss the impact of expectations on attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors, focusing specifically on outcomes tied to selection environments. Finally, we explore the theoretical implications of incorporating expectations into research on applicant perceptions and discuss the practical significance of justice expectations in selection contexts

The benefits of imbedding literacy and skill development into content while embracing culture and diversity in the classroom

ABSTRACT Imbedding literacy and critical thinking skill development into content while embracing culture and diversity in the classroom By Ryan Bell By teaching the Socratic Method for discussion and debate, and classroom instruction that relies on skill-building critical thinking skills and literacy development can have a profound impact on creating deeper learning connections. By using sheltered instruction and scaffolding tools taken from the ELD framework, my Action Research shows that not only can I teach students how to break down primary and secondary sources, but also develop literacy skills, while creating a culturally inclusive and diverse classroom. The methods used for this action research include evidence that allowed students to develop deeper literacy and critical thinking skills. Students were able to learn using my philosophy of teaching method of Social Constructivist. I believe in the Social Constructivist theory that students make deeper connections by learning and observing the experiences or opinions of others. I found this theory to be profound in my own learning and decided to employ it in my teaching practice. I believe that to create a classroom that embraces culture and diversity the Social Constructivist classroom-style curriculum must be present. This way, students are growing and evolving by learning and collaborating with each other. This action research argues that not only can a social studies teacher implement literacy development within their content area, but also while skill building the content areas core focuses on analysis and examination of issues from the past, present, or future using primary and secondary sources

Adult Firesetters in Australia: Exploring Characteristics and Recidivism Risk Factors.

Criminal firesetting behaviour poses a significant concern for the Australian community, with an outsized impact as measured in morbidity, mortality, and economic costs. The field of firesetting research remains underdeveloped, hampering efforts to develop specialised risk assessment protocols and offender treatment programs for use with firesetters. This manuscript describes three studies conducted to explore the characteristics of adult firesetters in Australia and identify features that predict risk of firesetting behaviour. Variables used for analysis were drawn from the Multi-Trajectory Theory of Adult Firesetting (Gannon et al., 2012), an aetiological model that was designed to highlight risk factors underpinning this behaviour, and it was an additional aim of these studies to test the assumptions of this model.Study one examined all correctional records pertaining to all offenders convicted of a firesetting offence in Western Australia between 2005 and 2010 (n=354). Comparisons were made between one-time (n=274) and repeat firesetters (n=80) to highlight variables associated with recidivist behaviour. As a secondary aim, comparisons were made between offenders convicted of a bushfire firesetting offence (n=70) and non-bushfire firesetting offenders (n=284), to help develop our understanding of this dangerous category of offender.Study two utilised the same participant sample reported in study one to perform a form of multivariate analysis known as Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) to explore the underlying typological structure of this sample of firesetters based on both offender personal characteristics and crime scene behaviours. It was expected that the typologies evidenced by this analysis would support the firesetter trajectory structure described by the M-TTAF and, in demonstrating this, provide further validation of the assumptions of the M-TTAF.Study three reports on a series of interviews and psychometric assessments conducted with firesetters (n=64) and a comparison sample of non-firesetting offenders (n=49) in correctional institutions across Western Australia and Queensland. Comparisons were made between firesetting and non-firesetting offenders as well as between one-time (n=42) and repeat firesetters (n=22). Variables assessing clinical, cognitive and emotional aspects of firesetters were utilised based on the hypothesised domains of the M-TTAF, and prioritised variables that could not be captured faithfully using the retrospective design of study one.It was a broad conclusion of the study that the suppositions of the M-TTAF were upheld; study three demonstrated that the psychological risk domains hypothesised to be related to firesetting (in particular: developmental disadvantage, mental health deficits, deficits in communication skills, social skills deficits, antisocial beliefs/attitudes, and deviant interest in fire) significantly delineated firesetters from non-firesetting offenders, and study one and three demonstrated that these same variables were associated with firesetting risk, with repeat firesetters presenting with more entrenched vulnerability in the assessed domains. Study two demonstrated that firesetter crime scene behaviours and individual characteristics clustered together in a manner highlighting the typological structure predicted by the M-TTAF. Study one also demonstrated that bushfire firesetters were distinct across a broad range of variables from non-bushfire firesetters, presenting with particular deficits in the domains of emotional regulation and impulsivity, but fewer deficits associated with antisocial traits/risk factors.Implications of this research are two-fold. First, outcomes from these studies contribute to our knowledge concerning the clinical correlates to firesetting behaviour, broadening our understanding of the drivers of this behaviour. Second, highlighting those factors related to firesetting risk and validation of the risk factors identified by the M-TTAF can be used to advise specialist risk assessment and treatment protocols for use with this group

Making Space for the Spirit: Cultivating Missional Identity in the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church

The goal of this study is to suggest new praxis in missional ecclesiology for the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church. This study is built on a theory-praxis-theory structure. Part One defines the terms of the study and describes how the church developed awareness of its current praxis. Two sets of survey data are analyzed, giving a picture of the church’s development over the course of three years. This data reveals a church transitioning from traditional ministry directed primarily to church members into a body that understands its calling to serve God’s kingdom outside the walls of the church. Part Two develops a critical interpretive framework of missional theology, principles of contextual analysis and leadership, and change theory. Many efforts at congregational transformation result in mere programmatic reworking because attention is not paid to these deeper issues. Additional qualitative data is then introduced, vis-à-vis this interpretive framework. Part Three evaluates the findings and draws conclusions about the formation of missional identity in the church. Finally, new praxis is proposed for continuing the process of missional transformation. Emerging from this study is a picture of a church experiencing profound shifts in its core identity—changing from a congregation in numerical decline, disengaged from the community, and with no apparent sense of mission to a congregation that knows it exists as a sign, a witness, and foretaste of God’s reign. The church has not arrived, nor is there is any foreseeable possibility of arriving at a place of stasis relative to the church’s mission in our rapidly changing world. What remains are next steps for deepening the new missional ecclesiology. Theological Mentor: Alan Roxburgh, DMi

Comrade Cowboy

In the winter of 2010, a crew of Montana cowboys embarked on a journey to start a ranch on the Russian steppes. Traveling by truck, airplane and cargo ship, the cowboys took horses, cattle and every piece of ranching equipment they would need to train local villagers in the cowboy trade. The venture was aimed to help the Russian Federation rebuild a beef cattle industry that was decimated during the Soviet Union

Anti-Icing Properties of Femtosecond Laser Surface Processed Material

In this thesis, the use of femtosecond laser surface processing (FLSP) to enhance the anti-icing properties of a commonly used aircraft alloy, Al 7075-O Clad is described. By changing the surface morphology through FLSP and the surface chemistry through siloxane vapor deposition, the wettability of Al 7075-O Clad was altered. Condensation and the subsequent freezing of condensates on FLSP Al 7075-O Clad was studied. Both structure height and surface wettability were shown to play a role in the delay of freezing. Freezing occurred on the FLSP superhydrophilic surface faster than on the unprocessed Al 7075-O Clad surface, however, freezing was delayed for all superhydrophobic FLSP surfaces. Tall structure height FLSP functionalized surfaces delayed freezing time longer than short structure height FLSP functionalized surfaces although all were superhydrophobic. It was shown that FLSP functionalized surfaces were able to delay freezing by up to 530 seconds compared to unprocessed Al 7075-O Clad. Self-propelled condensate jumping on FLSP surfaces occurs during the condensing process. The self-propelled jumping phenomena provides a means to promote anti-icing of materials, especially where jumping drops can be swept away in flow conditions The dynamics of supercooled water droplet impact onto FLSP and unprocessed surfaces was also studied. Imaging of supercooled water droplet interaction dynamics on a solid Al 7075-O Clad cold substrate for a droplet diameter below 160 µm is shown for the first time. Results indicate that microscale supercooled water droplets at low velocities will stick and freeze to unprocessed Al 7075-O Clad surfaces, while FLSP surfaces will repel droplets under similar conditions. A method for estimating the cooling of small falling water droplets in an environment of about -16 °C is described. This method gives insights for determining the temperature of supercooled droplets for the range of droplet diameters used in the experimental studies included in this paper. In addition, a way to estimate the nucleation site of a supercooled droplet by extrapolation of dendrite front velocity is provided. Advisor: Dennis Alexande