[SHoe @ Mar 19th 2007 1:40AM]

I'm still trying to figure out what the heck Engadget is on about with this? The deal is for "realistic digital video displays" (whatever that means...). But as for the rest, Alexander is completely correct. Pretty much most of the casion machines already in use by the major casinos are all networked to a central, secure servers (or cluster of servers) that perform / enforce all of the game logic, random number generation, etc, etc.

This is how it works NOW. Note that it is extremely regulated and the Nevada Game Comssion (as well as its international counterpart whose name i forget) have insane requirements for this kind of thing; they have inspectors to randomly check that the machines meet the requirements. Does this mean that they can't be cheated? Of course not - there is ALWAYS a way. But with todays casino kiosks (thats what they are really)conatining zero game rules, logic, or numbers generation, and with numerous physical and software protections to guard against tinkering, it is as close to impossible as can reasonably be afforded.

We WISH our voting machines were this accurate and this secure. Our government needs to pony up a bit more cash and not let the lowest bidder (or any bidder) set the requirements. They should look to the NGC for an understanding of the level of security, redundancy, and QA standards on which to base their requirements. Sheer government hack-job laziness and Diebold is taking advantage of it.

And yes - gambling IS a tax on stupid people.