Apathy.net - World

Friends on FriendFeed

john — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:37:17 -0400

As the social networking march goes on, so goes the need to expand to new sites with more profiles. This week is Friend Feed. Friend Feed is kind of like Twitter or Identi.ca in that you can post content that is for Friend Feed only. However, you can take it a step further and incorporate your content from as many as 50 other sites.

Here are some links to some friends who have profiles set up on Friend Feed:

John Fitzpatrick - that's me.
Vita Rara - my employer, a web development company
MORI - the member management software that I work on.
Modal Tracker - web-based software to use for container tracking
Quadran ERP - enterprise resource planning software for importers and distributors
Modal Labs - Vita Rara's division for software to serve the intermodal shipping industry.
Kase Manager - web-based software to be used by help desks to track trouble tickets and other issues for their clients

Profiles of Friends on the New Google Profiles

john — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:53:57 -0400

Google recently introduced common profiles for their many applications. If someone has a profile and it matches, exactly, a search, Google displays the profile at the bottom of the first page of search results. It is unclear to me whether Google plans to introduce and Twitter like functionality. I don't even know if their spiders even crawl their own pages.

Anywhere, here are some links to people and businesses that I know that have profiles set up on Google:

John Fitzpatrick - that's me.
Vita Rara - my employer.
MORI- a membership management application that I've been working on.
Modal Tracker - software to track intermodal shipping containers.
Quadran - an ERP system for importers/distributors
Modal Labs - Vita Rara's division for software to serve the intermodal shipping industry (like Modal Tracker).
Kase Manager - software for help desks to track client issues and trouble tickets.
Vitaly Babiy - a co-worker of mine.

Friends On Identi.ca

john — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:47:51 -0400

Spent some time setting up profiles for a number of friends and business contacts on Identi.ca over the past couple of days. For those who aren't aware, Identi.ca is a competitor to Twitter that has about 1/500th the user base. Here's a list of the accounts:

Mark Menard - my boss
John Fitzpatrick - me
Vitaly Babiy - a co-worker
Vita Rara - where I work
MORI - software I wrote
Modal Tracker - software Mark wrote to track shipping containers
Quadran - an ERP system written by Mark and Vitaly for importers/distributors of bulk commodities
Modal Labs - a new division within Vita Rara to handle Intermodal Shipping related software
Kase Manager - software to track Help Desk trouble tickets written by Vitaly.

Mark Menard, John Fitzpatrick, VitaRara, and Quadran

john — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:30:25 -0400

Vita Rara (VitaRara) is my employer. Mark Menard is the owner. Quadran is VitaRara's ERP system for importers and distributors of bulk commodities.

Our first client for Quadran is a company called Stein Fibers. Before working at VitaRara, Mark Menard and John Fitzpatrick worked together at a company called 5Points. In 1999, Stein Fibers contracted with 5points to write an ERP system to replace their patchwork of various tools. In June 2007, Stein Fibers asked VitaRara to replace the system written by 5points. That new system is called Quadran.

Over the next few years, we expect to deliver Quadran to several new clients. The application is geared toward organizations that handle commoditized products in bulk quantities, particularly ones who import the materials from overseas.

Want more information? Here's some links to the people and organizations discussed in this article:

Mark Menard, John Fitzpatrick, VitaRara, and MORI

john — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:20:03 -0400

Vita Rara (VitaRara) is my employer. Mark Menard is the owner. MORI, which is short for Masonic Online Registry Interface, is the nearly singularly focused obsession of the past five years of my professional life.

Mark Menard is a mason. After starting VitaRara in 2004, he hired me to work on a web-based membership tracking system that both lodge secretaries and Grand Lodge users could use together to manage a given state's Masonic membership. In January of 2005, we delivered MORI to the Grand Lodge of New York. Since that time, John Fitzpatrick (that's me) and Mark Menard have delivered MORI to five other Masonic organizations: The Order of the Eastern Star in New York, the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, the Grand Lodge of Ohio and the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.

More state bodies and other related bodies will be setup in MORI in the future, though I cannot say which ones yet. Several states have expressed strong interest, but this is a time of year when decisions of this nature are hard to come to.

Want more information? Here's some links to the people and organizations discussed in this article:

A New Purpose

john — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:58:56 -0400

With the change in government, the drive to push this blog as a means of drawing people's attention to issues I felt were being ignored, or worse perpetrated, by a republican administration has waned.

For the moment, I will simply be blogging issues and topics of a personal nature until I have the time to remake the site into something entirely new. Please stay tuned. This could get interesting.

Same-Sex Marriage Block On Way To California Ballot

john — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:14:34 -0400

The victory of Gay-Rights advocates in the California Supreme Court decision might be short lived. A ballot measure to amend that California State Constitution has gathered over 1 million signatures and will surely be on the November ballot.

Saddam Offered To Leave Without A Fight

john — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:25:50 -0400

One month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein offered to go into exile in exchange of $1 Billion. Contrast that with the Bush Administration's current request for another $195 Billion to continue the war.

Yet Another Excuse For War With Iran

john — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:52:29 -0400

Each day seems to bring another excuse Bush can use to justify his forthcoming war with Iran. Today comes news of Iran firing shells into Iraq. That's an actual, honest to God, act of war.

Massive Attack On Iran Prepared

john — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:14:17 -0400

According to a recent study, the United States has prepared a massive assault on targets in Iran of both a nuclear and non-nuclear nature.

Pentagon Sells Aircraft Parts Only Iran Could Use

john — Fri, 3 Aug 2007 08:56:25 -0400

This past February, despite orders to the contrary, the Pentagon sold over 1,400 F-14 parts at public sale as part of their surplus program. The only military in the world to use those planes is Iran.

Passenger Data System To Track Religion And Sex Life

john — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:11:43 -0400

The Unites States and the European Commission are close to establishing a system to share passenger data that goes way beyond the usual name, address, etc.

FDR's Four Freedoms - Then and Now

john — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:29:48 -0400

During his January 6th, 1941 State of the Union address, Franklin D. Roosevelt laid out four fundamental freedoms that should be enjoyed "everywhere in the world": Freedom of speech and expression, Freedom of every person to worship in his own way, Freedom from want; and Freedom from fear. It is interesting to contrast these notions given in a speech as America was watching the world become increasingly engulfed in a world war that would draw in the U.S. by years end with the current "war on terror."

Training Them There So We Can Fight Them Here

john — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:33:58 -0400

Of the many tent poles used to justify the invasion of Iraq, the last one standing was Bush's assertion that by fighting terrorists in Iraq, we won't have to fight them here. Well, a new National Intelligence Estimate kicks over the last tent pole.

iPhone Cracked/Hacked

john — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:59:12 -0400

A group of researchers working for a company called Independent Security Evaluators have managed to crack/hack their way into iPhones using either WiFi or malicious code on sites visited by the iPhone's web browser.

Bee Mystery Solved?

john — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 09:06:06 -0400

According to Mariano Higes, leader of a team of research scientists in Guadalajara, the mystery of the disappearing bees has been solved.

Hillary Clinton Two-Faced About Iraq

john — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 08:10:33 -0400

In a world of sound bites, presidential candidate and Democratic Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, is playing a very cynical game. Amidst paragraphs of speech talking about withdrawing troops from Iraq, she buries her intention to keep troops in Iraq if elected.

Obama Calls For New Role For U.S. Troops

john — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 11:16:55 -0400

While campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, presidential candidate Barack Obama put forth the suggestion that U.S. troops in Iraq be sent to fight al Qaeda.

North Korea Shuts Reactor, Seeks End To Sanctions

john — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:04:36 -0400

North Korea has shutdown its one operational nuclear reactor after having received an oil shipment for South Korea. U.N. inspectors are expected to verify the shutdown soon.

al Qaeda Back To Pre-9/11 Strength

john — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:31:19 -0400

U.S. Intelligence analysts, in a report titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West," have stated that al Qaeda has managed to regroup and rebuild back to the point it was at before September 11th.