Blogger Claimed to have Hacked the PricewaterhouseCoopers Computers and Discovered, Oscar Winners.

[kster]

I knew that would get your attention. :7

Latimes.com

THE ACCOUNTANTS
Today only, they like seeing red
For the numbers guys, ballot counting leads to a little bit of showbiz shine.

By Mary McNamara, Times Staff Writer

A few years ago, a blogger claimed to have hacked into the PricewaterhouseCoopers computers and discovered, days before the Academy Awards ceremony, the Oscar winners. The reaction at the firm was one not usually associated with accountants — laughter.

"We knew it wasn't true because the Oscar tallies never even go near a computer," says Bradley Oltmanns, managing partner, Los Angeles office, and one of two men overseeing this year's balloting process.

In fact, anyone looking for real voting reform for the next presidential election need look no further than PricewaterhouseCoopers' downtown L.A. offices. It takes 12 staff members 1,700 man hours to count the nomination and final ballots by hand, but when they are done, there is no question of hanging chads or duplicitous computer programs. PricewaterhouseCoopers (which added the Coopers in 1998) has been doing this for 73 years and the people involved know that even one mistake and, sterling reputation notwithstanding, they're toast.

So Oltmanns can dispel the occasional rumor that a winner did not really win. Should a mistake ever be made in announcing a winner, one of the company's two representatives backstage would immediately inform the stage manager.

http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-ca-accountant25feb25,0,2311027.story?coll=cl-movies

[mark0rama]

1. Ha! My first thought when reading your subject line was:

If they don't keep those ballot counts on paper ONLY, they're damned fools.

[kster]

2. Yep, when your in the business of getting the count right

you don't rely on machines to do the counting. :)