foremind » We have lost the war already

Every time that President Bush gets on stage, he always talks about the “War on Terror” and how we need to be vigilant so that we will win.

Has he not noticed that we have already lost? Yes, that’s right we have already lost.

According to Merriam-Webster, Terrorism is the systematic use of terror for coercion.

Can anyone point to a day in the last year or two that there wasn’t a news story about a bombing or killing or death in Iraq?

The main goal of any terrorist is to change the way their victim goes about their daily life. Sometimes it is through fear. Sometimes it is through tragedy, as in the destruction in New York. Sometimes it is through the actions taken by our very own government’s reaction.

In the U.S., our government has used to bullwhip of terror to enforce all sorts of infringements on the civil liberties of ordinary citizens. If you don’t support all the actions of the government, people call you un-patriotic. If you don’t approve whole-heartedly in the troop placement in Iraq, you are being disparaging of the good people of the armed forces, both past and present.

Does this ring a bell with anyone out there? Wake up people and smell the jackboots bearing down on your freedoms.

Next thing you know the Department of Homeland Security will be coming into ordinary stores and shop and enforcing complaints that have no validity. Oh wait, they already have as you can see in this story.

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Andy Fore's Resumes

arfore at arfore dot com
http://www.arfore.com

Objective

To work in a technical support or consultant position involving interaction with the Macintosh, Windows, and Linux platforms.

Skills

Operating Systems

Mac OS X Experience with networking, administration, desktop support, configuration and installation. Mac OS 9 Extensive support experience including administration, networking, configuration and installation. Windows (95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP) Administration, networking, desktop support, troubleshooting. Linux Familiar with Gentoo, RedHat, Debian, and Mandrake. User since 1995. Familiar with networking, server configuration, troubleshooting, desktop apps, and configuration. Also experienced with integration into Windows-based networks.

Application Software

Quark XPress

Work Experience Highlights

Valdosta State University

Office of Information Technology

Computer Services Specialist III, Helpdesk Administrator

2000 – Present

Valdosta State University

Office of Information Technology

Computer Support Technician

September 1999 – October 2000

Provided technical support for staff and faculty. Installed new computer equipment and software. Assisted in the setup of computer labs. Managed hardware and software upgrades in offices with existing installations of Windows 95/98/NT/2000 and some UNIX/Linux installations.

Coastal Georgia Community College

Computer Lab Assistant

September 1996 – June 1997

Provided technical support for students using computers/software. Helpdes set up new computer equipment; managed student sign-in/sign-out tallies. Oversaw routine virus checks. Managed transfer from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95. Assisted installation of AS/400 operating system updates.

arfore.com | projects

Well, after much research into the Windows-based solutions, I decided to plunge into the non-commercial Linux-based personal video recorder (PVR) solutions.

Two main ones were out there: MythTV and Freevo.

I decided on MythTV, mainly for the wealth of modules that are available. Once I decided on the PVR software, then I had to pick a distro to run it.

I have used most of the major distros except for Slackware. I ended up choosing Gentoo, mainly for its spartan approach and the fact that all of the software is compiled at installation to optimize the eficiency of the binaries.

Check out my “mythic” journey here.

My next project will most likely be a computer for my car. There are several possibilities for this project:

  1. Full ATX mounted in the trunk.
  2. MicroATX mounted in the trunk.
  3. MiniITX mounted in a custom enclosure in the space currently occupied by the glove compartment.

Of the possibles mentioned above, the two that seem most likely are 2 & 3. The third option is the most appealing for it’s size. This is also the reason why I am even considering the other two options.

arfore.com | projects | pvr

2003.12.29

Well, as you can see I don’t have much here right now. I have narrowed my choices of platform down to a microATX mobo or one of the new miniITX mobos.

While I am ruminating as to more on this project, here are some links to other car computer sites:

More links coming soon…

©2000-2003 andy fore

forethought: Comment on e740 Users Petition for PPC2003

If Toshiba refuses to update my E740s I swear I will never purchase another Toshiba product again. I was led to believe by Toshiba that updates were coming soon to take advantage of the new CPU. I bought 3 E740s and switched from Palm to PPC. I’m very sorry I did. It looks like I’ll go back to Palm again and forget about Toshitba and PPC.

if other xpa250 motored brands offer the upgrade, it hink Toshiba has to explain something…
Doesn’t Toshiba has product responsibilities?

Just return your e740 to your resseller and demand money back!, The product doesnt allow going SOFTware upgrades within its warranty periode due to what reason ever.

Toshiba really has a problem: the e740 is mallfunctioning,it doesnt forefill reasonable expectations.

Toshiba’s semi arogant atitude about this problem wont help them out, the product seems to be not o.k., so that shall be compensated.

We deserve an pocket wondows 2003 update.

forethought: June 2003 Archives

If you ever wondered about the proper use of the apostrophe, search no more! A tidy little site is available to solve all your questions, the Apostrophe Protection Society.

The Apostrophe Protection Society was started in 2001 by John Richards, now its Chairman, with the specific aim of preserving the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark in all forms of text written in the English language.

It is interesting to note, that many of the examples of bad usage are being taught in public schools all across the United States. For instance, I remember being taught that when referring to the symbolic representation of plurals. One example would be 1900’s when referring to the years that made up the 18th century.

I wonder just how many things in this vein have changed over the years? And when does a prior practice cease to be correct? For example, I was taught that when you have a mark of punctuation ending a sentence, that you put two spaces before beginning the next sentence in the same paragraph, but I have been led to believe that this is no longer being taught, nor expected.

Posted by arfore at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

Katherine Houghton Hepburn, died Sunday, June 29, 2003 at her home in Old Saybrook, CT.

She one the most decorated actresses in the industry. Until this year she held the record for the most Academy Award nominations.

Her credits included: “On Golden Pond” in 1981, “Lion in Winter” in 1968, and “African Queen” in 1951, co-starring with Humphrey Bogart.

The following quote typifies Hepburn’s life as well as her acting career:

“I’m a personality as well as an actress,” Hepburn once said. “Show me an actress who isn’t a personality, and you’ll show me a woman who isn’t a star.”

Posted by arfore at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

Our system administrator is the proud papa of a baby girl! Emma June Barton was born around 7:30pm on Friday, June 27, 2003. She is 19.5″ long and weighs in at 6lbs. 12oz.

Posted by arfore at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

If you are a user of the Toshiba e330 and/or e740 Pocket PC handhelds, then you may want to visit the Toshiba Online Petition

The e740 community has been anxiously awaiting some word from Toshiba as to whether or not we will get an OS upgrade. Toshiba has been non-forthcoming on this, and the conflicting information coming from the technical support and customer service reps has been frustrating to say the least.

An online petition has been created to voice our opinion and desire that Toshiba upgrade the OS.

This is quite a volatile issue. For more on the whole probelm check out the e740 forums at Brighthand Handheld Forums

Posted by arfore at 10:37 AM | Comments (3)

Welcome to the foremind. I was running pMachine, but when our server was reconfigured on a new host, I made the jump to Moveabletype.

Posted by arfore at 08:39 AM | Comments (1)

arfore.com | maxima

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  • home
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In September 2003, I upgraded my car from a 1988 Toyota Celica to a 1999 Nissan Maxima. It came with stock everything, so of course there is plenty of room for upgrades.

Stock Configuration

The stock configuration of my car is:

Planned Upgrades

The upgrades that plan to do are as follows:

  • Altezza Taillights
  • Clear marker lights and bumper lenses on the front
  • Brushed aluminum dash kit
  • Powerslot brake rotors

Photo Gallery (Coming Soon)

For pictures of my car please select from the links below.

Due to the seeming inability of Microsoft to code their browser(s) to follow the CSS guidelines set forth by the W3C, I have decided to ignore the fact that these pages may not display “correctly”. If this bothers you, then use Mozilla or Netscape or Safari.

For more on this please visit this page at glish.com.

Maxima Links

forethought: July 2003 Archives

Well, just when you thought the removeable rack was great security, they went and upgraded it. Now to access the drive you have to have a crypto-key. That’s right, it look just like those USB storage keys, but it allows you to access or block access to your removeable-rackmounted HD.

Check it out here.

Posted by arfore at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)

Well, I am once again trying my hand at something other than RedHat or Mandrake for my desktop box.

I kept thinking to myself, “Self, you are getting into a GUI-install rut with Mandrake and RedHat. You should try something else.”

So, off I went to the distribution list at Linux Online to find myself a new distribution.

At first I had settled on Debian. Then I kept running into issues with the stable tree not having enough updated components. So after some searching I found out that I could install the testing tree instead. But then I found out that KDE 3.1.2 wasn’t in the testing tree.

After some more googling[?] about Debian “sarge/testing” and KDE 3, I found a nice page that detailed a way to install it. (Don’t have the link handy, will post it tomorrow).

This failed miserably.

So now I am trying to install a distro called Gentoo Linux.

Wish me luck. 🙂

Posted by arfore at 06:59 PM | Comments (1)

Well, this may be old news to some people, but after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the USA Patriot Act required all U.S. colleges and universities to register all foreign students is a database.

Well, looks like the database has serious problems. According to an article in Government Executive.

So here’s a great incentive to foreign students: come to the U.S. for a great education, not only is it more expensive, but you get to pay for your own surveillance too!

Posted by arfore at 08:50 AM | Comments (2)

Well, if you are trying to weasel out of paying for a copyright, there is a new way to do it: get the material referenced in a law, or better yet have the material become the law.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a Fifth Circuit decision that basically says: if your standard or code is referenced in a law, then is becomes uncopyrightable, even if it was copyrightable before it was in the law.

For a better summary with more explanation, read Peter Veeck’s summary.

Posted by arfore at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

There is an interesting article in the New York Times about being addicted to the constant availability of information.

“It’s like a dopamine squirt to be connected,” said Dr. Ratey, who compares the sensations created by constantly being wired to those of narcotics — a hit of pleasure, stimulation and escape. “It takes the same pathway as our drugs of abuse and pleasure.”

“It’s an addiction,” he said, adding that some people cannot deal with down time or quiet moments. “Without it, we are in withdrawal.”

So for everyone out there who thought they were free of addictions because “geeks don’t do drugs” here’s your addiction.

Posted by arfore at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

For those who don’t already know, Barry White died on last Friday at the age of 58.

He was listed as Artist No. 78 in VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists.

For more on Barry White and his music, visit the Barry White biography page by VH1.

Posted by arfore at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

At Valdosta State University we are having to redesign our site to meet the new federal accessibility guidelines.

I ran across a nice article about using accesskeys for the mobility impaired.

Now if only all browsers were standards compliant. Sigh…

Posted by arfore at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

forethought: CSS Archives

At Valdosta State University we are having to redesign our site to meet the new federal accessibility guidelines.

I ran across a nice article about using accesskeys for the mobility impaired.

Now if only all browsers were standards compliant. Sigh…

Posted by arfore at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

forethought: Trials and Tribs

Well, I am once again trying my hand at something other than RedHat or Mandrake for my desktop box.

I kept thinking to myself, “Self, you are getting into a GUI-install rut with Mandrake and RedHat. You should try something else.”

So, off I went to the distribution list at Linux Online to find myself a new distribution.

At first I had settled on Debian. Then I kept running into issues with the stable tree not having enough updated components. So after some searching I found out that I could install the testing tree instead. But then I found out that KDE 3.1.2 wasn’t in the testing tree.

After some more googling[?] about Debian “sarge/testing” and KDE 3, I found a nice page that detailed a way to install it. (Don’t have the link handy, will post it tomorrow).

This failed miserably.

So now I am trying to install a distro called Gentoo Linux.

Wish me luck. 🙂

Posted by arfore at July 30, 2003 06:59 PM