That was the theme of John Kerry’s Convention Speech. My mind is still reeling, I literally just finished watching the speech. As I have mentioned I am not a party line Democrat, and I had not been completely sold on Kerry. During the primaries I was a Wesley Clark supporter. So I was watching tonight to see what Kerry had to say. Keep in mind, he could have stood up there and bombed and he’d still get my vote. I will vote George W. Bush out of office.
I have to say, I’m impressed with Kerry. The speech really moved me in a lot of ways. Not that I agree with everything he had to say. I think that some of the healthcare promises he made were probably unrealistic, although admirable.
What really struck me was that he really went out there and attacked some issues that Republicans have hijacked the last couple of decades. It seems to me that the Democratic Party has shied away from certain issues allow the Republicans to call them their own. Issues, like defense, “family values,” faith, even patriotism. John Kerry had no trouble taking those right back.
I want to comment on a couple of quotes from the speech in particular.

“And on my first day in office, I will send a message to every man and woman in our armed forces: You will never be asked to fight a war without a plan to win the peace.”

This is powerful. It praises the soldiers and condemns the war all in one powerful statement. This is exactly the message we need to be sending. There is a war going on and we can’t ignore because we don’t care for the bloodshed. I was a complete pacifist from the time I was age 16 until September 11, 2001. That was the first time I ever saw a reason to take force against anyone. I still abhor violence. But this country is too great to allow anyone to threaten it.

“As President, I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal: our economic as well as our military might; our principles as well as our firepower.”

This is exactly the kind of balance we need in foreign policy. Too many on the left responded to this unjust and unnecessary war by advocating pacifism. But the fact is although Saddam was not a threat Al Queda is.

“Our purpose now is to reclaim democracy itself. We are here to affirm that when Americans stand up and speak their minds and say America can do better, that is not a challenge to patriotism; it is the heart and soul of patriotism.”

Thank You. I am so sick of the neocons acting as though any thought that differs from theirs in un-American, un-patriotic. And I’m glad that Kerry didn’t tiptoe around it. He came out and called them on it. And I hope that it helps to reveal the weakness of their positions to the American people

“That flag doesn’t belong to any president. It doesn’t belong to any ideology and it doesn’t belong to any political party. It belongs to all the American people.”

Strong, powerful, positive statement. And again it cuts to trappings that the right has been using. The wave the flag fast and furious. To the point where I don’t have flag hanging at my house. Not because I don’t love America. But I feel as though I am some how supporting these neocons by doing so. So I say take it back, John Kerry. Take back the American flag for every one not just for Republicans.

“Our plan will cut the deficit in half in four years by ending tax giveaways that are nothing more than corporate welfare and will make government live by the rule that every family has to follow: pay as you go. And let me tell you what we won’t do: we won’t raise taxes on the middle class. You’ve heard a lot of false charges about this in recent months. So let me say straight out what I will do as President: I will cut middle class taxes. I will reduce the tax burden on small business. And I will roll back the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals who make over $200,000 a year, so we can invest in job creation, health care and education.”

Fiscal responsibility. We must have it. We are the most powerful country in the world but we will not remain there by being in debt. And the first step to cutting the debt is to cut deficit spending. And now let the Republicans accuse us of taxing to much. Kerry spelled it right out. We will tax, but TNT the middle class, but those who make the most in this country, those with annual incomes over $200,000.00. That’s a lot of scratch. I won’t feel sorry for those guys paying more taxes, will you?

These are just my initial reactions, I’ll need to read the speech again and let what I’ve heard tonight sink in. But, I know this. I am squarely behind John Kerry right now. Not just as the guy to get Bush out. But as a leader.

News - Krispy Kreme Says It’s Facing SEC Inquiry

Say it isn’t so! I mean when I hear that some spooky energy conglomerate like Enron is up to no good, it doesn’t suprise me. But when something as wholesome and good as yummy donuts are involved with questionable business practices, it’s enough to break my heart. The only negative news I want to hear about donuts is that they make you fat.

Next week, I’ll be on vacation with family. A nice week of fishing, swimming, and relaxing. Which is exactly what I need right now. I’ll also be away from a PC for the week so I will not be able to post as much as I have been. I will however try to post some short updates if anything of note happens via email using my wife’s nifty Blackberry email machine. I’ve wanted to try the gadget out. Or I may just push some short posts out through the SMS on my phone. We’ll see how it works out.

First thing this morning when I got to work I have a virus on my File Server. No problem Symantec caught it. It was some variant of the randex worm. It was in the home directories of two user who use the same workstation. Somehow, these jokers had the antivrus disabled. What fun. Not a very sophisticated worm and was easily removed. Only goes to show again how the users are the weakest link in security.
Soon, we are going to have to migrate from Symantec to TrendMicro. Corporate mandate. I’m sure TrendMicro makes a quality product, but I am very frustrated that I have to implement a new solution and go through the associated learning curve, just cause someone at the home office gets good swag from TrendMicro. Especially when we have a solid set up now. No wonder Dilbert is so popular.

Before I go on about my frustrating day I will mention this one nice thing that happened: I got my Fantasy Football League invite. Can’t wait to get started on another season of fantasy football. This will be my third season with these guys. I’ve come second place both years. Somehow, I also managed to come in second in the two other leagues I was in last year. Yes. I was in three leagues last year. Yes. That is a little overkill. I’m gonna try to keep it two this year.

Otherwise, I’ve had a thoroughly useless day. I couldn’t get anything accomplished at work. Nothing went wrong really. But things didn’t really go well either. Little nagging things like errors in the back up log. I was able to resolve some of them, but I didn’t get them all so there will be more tomorrow. Its not that backups aren’t working, The data is getting backed up, but I hate errors in the backup log, and errors like that make my manager (rightfully) nervous. So they have to be dealt with.

But after that I can start working on one of the big and interesting projects. Like the new software package (maintenance management) that launches in 3 weeks. Nope can’t work on that because I need to get the vendor on the phone and have him work with me. Part of the solution resides on Palm based rugged handheld computers, and our vendor was supposed to load the software on all of the handhelds and get the individual handhelds registered with the database on his last visit. Well, of course, he did not (for many reasons not all of them his fault either.) So now instead of working with the maintenance department on testing the handhelds, I have a stack of Palm’s sitting on my desk that all need individual registration codes and all need to be integrated with the database. And all of that needs the vendor on the phone. Fun! Nothing like being a slave to someone else’s availability.

OK, how about a simple little Project then. I know, I’ll set up the Network management feature of the Smart UPS (back up battery.) The idea is set up the NIC that is in the UPS unit and have the UPS send a signal over the network to the Server(s) telling them to shut down when the UPS stops receiving current. Cool. Right? So I run the software that puts an IP address on the card ( so the card can communicate on network) and the it reports: ok completed successfully. Now all I have to do is launch a web based management tool pointed to the New IP address … but there nothing there. I ping the new IP address … nothing. I try to rerun the software … nope. This isn’t supposed to be rocket science. So tomorrow I’ll be digging for documentation.

The long and short of it is this. My To Do List for tomorrow looks way to much like my To Do List for today did and I hate that.

I also received one of the many email newsletters that I subscribe to. It invited to join the discussion on the new Microsoft certification: the MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician.) Which is kinda of an entry level MS cert. I thought it was cool little cert for guys just getting started. So I go to the discussion board, and these guys are using it as an excuse to knock all Microsoft Certs. Well, that didn’t sit well so I actually shot back my own retort. I never post on those things but it struck just right so I did it.

Anyway, that’s just a couple of example of the little things that got to me today.

Last night I explained what it was about blogging that appeals to me. But what I did not tell is what sparked me into actually doing it. gMail. Yep Google brand mail. I had heard a rumor that gMail invites were available to members of Blogger So I went to the site to see what the fuss was about. Well, obviously I signed up and started this blog. And no I didn’t get an invite. Which is OK. I’m really glad that actually started doing this even if it was for a silly reason.

Not that I’m over my obsession with a gMail account. Today I’ve been offering to write nice things in this blog about the person who extends me that coveted invite. The flaw in that plan is that they will read my entries and possibly conclude that I am unworthy of their invite. So be it. Cause maybe, just maybe, some one will read this and say “hey this guy is a dork! I better give the invite before he does something desperate” ;)

And if not. Well, at least maybe a couple more people will have seen my blog. And I’ll know that my ramblings are being heard … if not appreciated!

Blogging

Well, I’ve been doing this blog for two whole weeks now. And of course in true geek fashion I’m all over it. I spent way too much time this weekend working on the layout and I even snuck in a post from work today. But it is a good thing. I’ve done a little writing here and there but I’ve not stuck with it. I’ve thought for years that I should keep a journal, but never had the discipline. So what’s different about the blogging? Two things.

First, you can tweak it. Its a toy. Change the layout, change the template, monkey with the code. Now that’s more fun than a dusty old journal any day.

The other reason Blogging is better: Instant Publishing. I mean when I write I always imagine that some one will read it. I picture some sort of audience. When you keep a journal, who are you going to show it to? Your Family? You Coworkers? No. They already know much of what your writing. They may have been part of some of the incidents you are relaying. Its no good. Ahhh… but this. This anyone might read. I’m not advertising this to my coworkers or my family. My wife has the address but no real interest in reading my thoughts, bad enough she has to hear me rant in person, why would she want to read them.

I’m not doing this so people will read it that’s not really the goal here. I’m doing this because it good for me. My mind is full of ideas that swirl around and it feels good to try straighten them out and put down on this virtual paper here. But it helps to know that some one might read what I’m writing. There’s some validation in that.

Which brings to me an interesting point. It would appear that some one has actually visited this site. Kind of exciting. According to StatCounter around 5:00 pm yesterday someone came to my site. Cool.

Site Design

I’m getting rid of the expand/hide buttons. I like the idea, but I don’t like the fact that they default to everything hidden. So until I can bother t figure out how to change it they’re out of here.

Linux
Sometime I get a complex of sorts that I’m not a very good geek since I work primarily with Windows. Its not that I don’t like Linux. I think it is very cool. But right now, its a Microsoft environment that pay the bills. And then I say to myself: “I’ll use Linux at so that I can get better at it” But the reality is I work hard, and sometimes I just don’t feel like working a using a computer. There are plenty of Linux users who take an attitude that makes me feel like they think I don’t know much about computers because I work on Windows. But come on guys. Its not like I’m configuring ini files in Windows 95. I’m rolling out Group Policies to an Active Directories Domain. I’m managing IP messaging that sends our shipping and billing info directly to customers. Very high tech stuff. No knock on Linux. Not at all. There are lots of places for it. And I have no doubt that its usage will grow. But the modern Windows Operating Systems are very capable and very useful in many environments.

See I feel better for saying that. If anyone is actually read this, please feel free to comment and give me you opinion. I don’t mind people disagreeing with me, as long as they don’t tell me what I’m supposed to think.

Ricky Williams

Ricky Williams is going to retire from football. All over the country, there are guys who have already drafted their Fantasy Football Teams who are feeling very nauseous right now. Its bad enough to have your first round pick get injures in the preseason … but to have him just decide he’s no longer interested, that just sucks. And poor Dave Wannstedt. He was already on the hot seat and now his best player just walked away from the game. I’d feel even more sorry for the Dolphins if they didn’t play the Ravens in Week 17!

BoSox and Yankees

And I thought A-rod was such a nice guy, but he lost it. Nothing like a bench clearing brawl in Major League Baseball. And from the clips I saw it looked like Varitek would have killed Rodriguez if left to his own devices. And with these wins, Boston is now a half game over Anaheim for the Wild Card. If Boston can make the playoffs I predict more fireworks from these two teams.

Other Thoughts

OK, I’ve said before but I can’t help it. Lance is just plain awesome. Lindsey Davenport beat Serena William and went on to win the title. Is Serena losing a little of her dominance? Maybe spending too much time design clothes and not enough time on Tennis. Time will tell. The Steelers extend Cowher’s contract two more years. Incredible. The Steelers haven’t had a great season in quite a few years now, I would’ve thought that Cowher’s job wasn’t that safe. Shows you what I know

Ok, I’m not so bright. After logging off and then get back on the computer, I see that the buttons still are not showing. I guess I will have to live with just text links until I can figure out how to resolve this issue. I can’t see setting up my own server for this fan base. Not yet any way. Of course, the idea of setting up my own web server has been in the back of my head for a while. At some point I’ll probably do it just for kix.

Not that anyone is actually looking at the site, but I’ve spruced it up a bit. Added some links. I have to give big thanks to Taylor McKnight. It is from his site that the buttons came from. Not he knows anything about that either, but I am appreciative. I mean if I’m going to keep a blog I have to keep it looking good, right. I actually spent much more time on this I should have. I wanted to avoid linking directly to The Buttons on McKnight’s Blog, but I can’t seem to store the button on Blogspot and of course I do not have my own server. I tried to trick the system, so to speak, by creating a GeoCities page, posting the buttons on there and then linking to them there. But it didn’t work for some reason. I could see the buttons fine if I put the code in FrontPage and displayed it. But when I put the code up on Blogger … No dice! So for the short term I will have them linked back to McKnight’s blog. Since no one is actually loading this page it won’t affect his server much. And I will keep working on a way to host the buttons myself. That what I get for trying to be clever, I guess. I also added a snippet of code to let the body of my posts be hidden. Not bad for a non-programmer.

Armstrong Wins Record Sixth Tour De France

Simply Incredible! Not only does he win for the sixth time, which no one else has ever done, but he absolutely dominated. Armstrong represents what sports can be at its finest. His performance in the Tour de France (or as us fans like to call it the Tour de Lance) represent what can be accomplished through dedication, training and sheer will. He climbs better than anyone else and now this he killed in the last time trials. As I’ve said before, I have nothing but respect and admiration for this phenomenal athlete.

OK that’s actually a rhetorical question. Isn’t it interesting though, the Mac Fanatics would follow Steve Jobs right of the edge of the Earth and the Linux/Open Source folks have the sound of a religious movement to a lot of what they say. But no such following for Big Bill and Microsoft. Kind of odd, actually. I mean, obviously a lot of people are using their products, but no one feels compelled to defend Microsoft or talk people in to using their products. They are simply the default software — what you get when you don’t do anything else.

And actually, what got me thinking about this is that I am an MCSE. So you would think that the MCSE’s would be big promoters of the Windows Servers and all. But we’re not. Microsoft doesn’t give us any special treatment. I’ve been back and forth with the MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) people about what my certification level should be. I get conflicting information, the resources published by Microsoft to explain what the requirements for certification are unclear at best and constantly changing. It is very frustrating. To tell it briefly, I thought I had taken enough test to a MCSE:Security but my transcript shows only MCSE 2003. I sent an email to them and they tell me that it will show up soon … be patient. When it doesn’t show up I email again. Now they say oh… you need to pass one more test. I don’t know what’s going on. When I look at the site for the certification it seems they are correct. So either the folks at the training center were just wrong on this or Microsoft has recently changed the requirements. Anyway… this is no way to build a loyal following for Microsoft. And we’ll see how it turns out, but I’ll be ticked if one of those tests was for nothing and I have to take another.

Yahoo! News - Lance Wins Mountain Climb, Retains Lead

Is there a better athlete in the world? I don’t think so. Lance’s single minded dedication to winning this event is just inspiring. Go Lance!

Bulk mailer faces criminal charges - News - ZDNet

All Spammers Should Be Locked up and the Keys Thrown Away!

I have to wonder if anyone will ever actually look at my postings out here on the internet. Probably not. Not only that but what are the chances of the stray reader would actually find this interesting? Well… I can not just sit around and hope that someone somewhere finds this and finds it interesting. It is my resolution to post a comment on someone’s blog everyday. Then maybe the favor gets returned.
As if that idea isn’t dorky enough … The oddest image popped into my head. All of bloggers are kinda sitting here tossing out our “Message in a Bottle” just like the song by the Police. Yet somehow, I don’t think that this is what Sting had in mind when he wrote that song.

It seems that everywhere I turn I have some one coming to me and asking about all the “pop ups” on their PC. Of course its spyware. Its everywhere and it is insidious. I have run across everything, The notorious Gator, Bonzia Buddy, 2020 search, WhenUSearch, and on and on it goes. One was devious that when you rebooted the PC it left a hidden registry entry that searched to make sure its files where there, if anything was missing it directed the PC to its install files on the internet and re-installed itself.

This is outrageous. This is very much virus and worm type behavior, but the Anti-Virus companies have been very hands off with these. Only now are they offering a solution, but it is not included with the AV Client. And the part that makes me the most angry: people most be buying junk from those pop up ads. Otherwise these companies would give up.
How do I deal with them? First of all, I don’t download crap from the internet except from reputable sources. (If have to download something from a site I do not trust, I don’t do it on my work PC or the main PC at my house.) Second, I am aware of the way my PC should behave. As soon as it does something unexpected, I drop everything and look into it. I am amazed at how many people keep using their PC’s and just shrug off changes. “I don’t know why my home page changed to that.” “I’m not sure when that toolbar first showed up in the browser.” Finally, I use AdAware and Spybot S+D to fix any thing that does slip in.

The real answer to this problem is that people must be educated as to what they are doing and the consequences of their actions. We have all this great technology at everyone’s fingertips. And its all very easy to use. So people just go out and don’t consider that maybe some of the stuff on the internet may be harmful or malicious. You read about cases of phishing nearly everyday. Uneducated computer users are just victims of waiting to happen. I hope that these trends slow down and users realize that it is in their interest to learn more about what’s going on. So till then I’ll keep educating who I can.

Just what I needed. After a long day at work, I came home and decide to mow my lawn. It was only a week or two overdue! Not a big chore since I live in a townhouse, but between several rainy evenings and my over-packed schedule it has been neglected. As I mowed along the edge of my front yard, I hit a big old rock hidden by the tall grass. One of my kids must have put it there. The mower spit it in half, but it must have bent something because the mower is not running right at all now. So, among my other projects this weekend I’ll be fixing my lawnmower. That’ll be scary. I’m much better suited to dealing with networking issues than lawnmowers. We’ll see how it looks on Saturday.

Yahoo! News - Filipino Truck Driver Freed in Iraq

I’m glad a life was spared here, but I can’t help but be furious at the Filipino government over this. This can only encourage these terrorist to kidnap more people to try and get more countries to pull out of Iraq and isolate the United States. Every country that gives in to the demands of these criminals in turn gives them more strength. I am gravely concerned that this situation will get much worse before it gets better.

I have to say that I am very satisfied with the way this turned out. The very rich and powerful have become accustomed to manipulating the system to their advantage and I am glad to see Stewart held accountable for her actions. On the other hand, in the grand scheme of things what she did wasn’t that big of a deal so I feel 5 months is an appropriate sentence.

I’m not quite sure why I’ve deciding to take on this blogging thing. Its not as if I’m drowning in free time. I’ve barely had a moment to think this summer.
In June, I was off to computer geek training for two weeks, that is 16 hours day for 14 days. Then I went backpacking on the Appalachian Trail for a week.
After all that I had no choice but to go back to work. Then out of town for the Fourth and again last weekend for a wedding and another wedding this weekend. Holy Cow!
 
So much for the lazy days of Summer.

Well, I went and bought myself a big screen TV

Isn’t it Beautiful? Now I really can’t wait for football season.

Ok. So I’ve decided to do this blog thing. At the moment I feel a lot like I’m talking to a brick wall, but that’s ok. I’ll tell a little about me although I don’t think I have it in me to give a long winded bio. I’ll just hit the highlights and hope that the rest becomes clearer over time. I’m a network admin (read computer geek) living in the greater Baltimore area. I am married with 2 great boys ( 3 & 11.) Besides the normal geeky things I’m also a backpacker, an amateur photographer, and a rabid sports fan. I love to read (fantasy and sci - fi are my favorites … Surprise!) I am also a history buff and extremely concerned with currents events. Be warned … my politics lean to the left but I don’t seem to fit the typical mold for the Democrats. I’m sure my political feelings we become clearer in time also.
My point in blogging as equals parts a diary that is just geeky enough for me to keep up with, an attempt to organize my thoughts by publishing them, and an exercise in vanity to see if any one out here actually gives a damn what I think ( I still can’t see that happening)

Well there you have it: the first post. I will attempt to update this several times a week as my schedule allows and we’ll see how it shapes up.