[][1]Fourth Amendment? Buh Bye I absolutely hate the sacrifice of freedom in the name of security. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” I believe in those words and wish we would keep those in mind whenever, without probable cause or due process, the TSA (the government) searches your belongings — like mine were this past week (both checked and carry on). I do not like it on a plane. I do not like it on a train. I do not like it on a boat. I do not like it with a goat. I do not like being searched Uncle Sam I Am. Opening my checked bag and finding this neither made me feel safe nor secure. ...

[][1]Read the mailing... Ever watch Penn & Teller’s Bullshit? Man I love that show. If you haven’t watched Bullshit on Showtime, check it out… it’s great… but I digress, and in the tradition of Penn & Teller… And then there’s this Asshole… Meet Jim Risch, United States Senator I don’t know how I get on these lists, but I get on them. Out of nowhere, Jim Risch sent me a manilla envelope explaining to me how “Big Labor” exploits its members, placing “handpicked candidates” in political power, etc. ...

[][1]Fred Posner @ Astricon 2009 It’s October and that means I’m going to Phoenix! Astricon, the meet-up of Asterisk users / developers / fans / etc, starts October 13th, and this year I received the honor of presenting. My talk, Asterisk Applications: Unexpected Hurdles, showcases the Ann Arbor Parking “Smackdown” earlier this year. As an added benefit… my Wife will be joining me 🙂

[][1]I miss my friend. Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends 🙂 And in no random order… qxork.com So, you ever give out an email address and the person questions the spelling, asks you to repeat the work, or just in someway makes it a non-pleasurable experience? Of course you have… Well, after explaining that it was “m like mary” and “2 r’s in Forrest” for the last time, I decided to get a really small domain with letters that don’t sound like other letters (ie no m, n, c, d, e, t, etc.). Since there weren’t many 3 or 4 letter domains to be found, the new domain is… q x o r k. “Hi, I’m Fred. Send it to Fred at q x o r k dot com.” Yes, it doesn’t pronounce. Yes it doesn’t mean anything… but also… Yes, it’s easy to say clearly on the first time. There’s not much to the site… think of it as a Fred Posner gateway if you will… with links to my sites and contact information. Check it out at www.qxork.com. INS Ah, nothing brings a sense of wonder to me than the effectiveness of our Federal Government. ...

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.Barack Obama Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again” -START RANT- Today I got irked. Irked as hell and totally cannot understand why more people do not express frustration. Maybe people just gave up. Maybe we’re approaching an American society that doesn’t view democracy and freedom in the same way that our founders dreamed. My state of mind comes from three main sources: taxes, information, and accountability. Yes, the economy sucks. You know what? It did before. You know what? ...

[][1]Baby Forrest and Thin Fred Ah… getting older. I’ve noticed that as I have aged, the hair line recedes and the gut expands. Not truly the look I dreamed about as I pictured myself approaching forty, but the look I’ve achieved nonetheless. Speaking of forty… Jimmy Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty” remains one of my all time favorite songs. I don’t know why, but for more than 20 years I just have simply loved that song. The thought of now being closer to 40 than 30 brings a different appreciation of the song… and well… just is simply an odd feeling. Anyway, as usual I digress… So, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve well… I’ve become more rotund. I’ve posted and written about it many times. Hell, I even have a website called Fat Freddy Says. But the reality remains, that I’m bigger than I want to be and it’s not my coat that makes me look fat. The other month, Yeni and I bought a ...

[][1]GRRRRR Telemarketers! Today I posted some recordings I made using something I like to call the “Annoyatron.” Basically, using Asterisk (the open source Internet Telephony software) allows me to handle incoming calls based on a variety of issues. Bottom Line: If I know you’re a telemarketer, you get the annoyatron. The full article is posted on VoIP Tech Chat. You know… while you’re checking out the link above, try other articles on VoIP Tech Chat… lots of great things to read....

Good friends from Gainesville visited their family in Detroit last week; providing the perfect excuse to get great tickets and let Yeni watch her first baseball game. The Tiger’s stadium is really nice, and our seats along the third base line were just fantastic. The Tiger’s beat the Indians and we all had a great time. It was fireworks night at the stadium, so we were treated to a nice (and loud) show after the game....

So, a new year, a new cartoon Fred… which one do you like better? [][1]2008 Fred [][2]2009 Fred

The nice thing about waking up really, really early to take family to the airport? Well, on some days, you might just catch a nice view of a full moon. [][1]Moon over Ann Arbor, MI