AP photo.

Disabled voters in Oregon will nominate their next representative in congress with the tap of a finger.

The state is launching the first iPad voting scheme in the U.S. as it goes to the polls tomorrow to replace ex-Representative David Wu, who left amid allegations of sex with a minor.

Election workers will take the iPads to disabled voters who might otherwise have difficulties marking their ballots, the AP wrote.

It will still be a long way from paperless, electronic voting – think of it more as computer-assisted voting. Voters will tap on the iPad screen to choose a candidate, then print out the ballot and send the ballot in through snail mail.

State elections director Steve Trout told Politico that they gave the iPad the thumbs up after also testing candidates including an Android tablet a Windows-based tablet, the Lenovo Thinkpad and a regular laptop.

All of the vendors were willing to donate the devices. In the end, they went with five iPads donated by Apple. The state then paid $75,000 to develop voting software.

“Apple was by far the easiest and most effective for assisting people that have accessibility needs. And that was part of the goal of our test pilot, to find out which devices were most effective,” Trout said.

If the trial run is successful tomorrow and in general elections in January, it will become a regular service for disabled voters in Oregon.

Pretty cool, huh? In Virginia, before I could move easily, a poll worker once brought a tablet to my car so I could vote. It got the job done, but it was a klunky and awkward device. iPads would be much less single-purpose and would probably be much less expensive. And since Oregon is actually taking the device to nursing homes and other places, it could increase participation.

Also heard on NPR this morning.

Much later in the day, Mashable contributed this op-ed on voting by smartphone.

"People know more about their iPhone than they do their own health," points out Travis Bogard, Jawbone's VP of product development. "So how do we make them consumers of their own wellness?" Today Jawbone is finally unwrapping their attempt to solve the problem: The UP, a $100 wristband, smartphone app, and web app trio that work together to monitor your exercise habits, sleep cycles, and eating decisions. It's already on sale on Jawbone's website; on November 6th, it'll be available at Apple, Target, AT&T stores, and Best Buy.

What's the potential here? A device like this would probably have done me more good earlier in life, but I like the idea of getting people more engaged with, more aware of their overall wellness.

Homes account for more than 10 percent of the total energy consumption in America, including transportation. About half of the residential energy consumed is for heating and cooling, with the rest going for lighting, heating water, appliances, televisions and computers.

Each degree cooler a house is kept in a heating season (winter), or warmer in a cooling season (summer), translates to a 5 percent energy saving. So shifting consumption patterns, say, four degrees on average can mean energy savings of 20 percent, experts say.

Since the average home spends $1,000 to $1,500 a year on heating and cooling, that would translate to $200 to $300 in lower energy bills. It would also mean fewer power plants built and lower carbon emissions.

From an article about the soon-to-be-introduced Nest thermostat. It comes from former Apple employees, so I'm inclined to believe their trust in design and purpose. I'll look into the device when it's available.

His effort is part of a broad technological effort to make “smart textiles”: wearable fabrics with embedded electronics that can collect, store, send and receive information. His lab is focusing on the sending-and-receiving part, trying to transform military apparel, hospital gowns, even everyday T-shirts into antennas.

From a New York Times article about the work John Volakis is conducting at Ohio State. Some of this seems a little over the top, but I'd welcome apparel that eased the hookup and use of medical monitoring equipment,