By John Crockford
Statewide information about the general election, including election results, can be found at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/2012-elections/nov-general/.
For county information, here are the links to election information for the local area.
Fresno County: www.co.fresno.ca.us/DepartmentPage.aspx?id=14199
Kings County: www.countyofkings.com/acr/elections/index.html
Madera County: madera-county.com/index.php/electionsdept
Mariposa County: www.mariposacounty.org/index.aspx?nid=87
Merced County: www.co.merced.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=225
Tulare County: www.tularecoelections.org/
If you vote by mail, some of the county election Web sites provide information about the status of your mail-in ballot.
Booklets and Fliers
PdfBooklet (http://pdfbooklet.sourceforge.net/) is a free software program that can help organizations and individuals produce booklets and fliers from existing PDF files. It is available for Windows and Linux computers.
Pdfcreator (www.pdfforge.org/) can create PDF files from nearly every application and is free for companies and private users.
Secure, Encrypted Text Messaging
Wickr (www.mywickr.com/en/index.php) is a free iPhone app (Android coming soon) that provides the following:
- Military-grade encryption of text, picture, audio and video messages
- Sender-based control over who can read messages, where and for how long
- Best available privacy, anonymity and anti-forensic features
- Security that is simple to use
Award-Winning Software
A PCWorld Online article, “10 Award-Winning Open Source Apps to Try Today” (www.pcworld.com/article/2010155/10-award-winning-open-source-apps-to-try-today.html), contains some good information about “free alternatives to just about any expensive commercial package you might care to name.”
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John Crockford, a self-described “geek with Luddite sympathies,” is an independent Web site designer and consultant. Contact him at info@johncrockford.com.
