[occupyaustin-it] occupyaustin-it Digest, Vol 2, Issue 66

Nolan Darilek nolan at thewordnerd.info
Sat Nov 19 11:16:19 CST 2011 

I'm going to chime in and hopefully say something that we can all agree 
with. Stunning, I know.

But I don't like some of what I've seen from just about every more 
recent participant of this thread. What I've seen in the last 12 hours 
or so is not the IT group I signed on to, and is probably exactly what 
the authorities cracking down on our movements throughout the nation 
*want* to see in our groups.

One email made it sound like 5-6 magnets met and agreed on something. 
I'm not sure if I was included in that number and what it is thought 
that I agree on, but here's what I want out of this:

1. I don't care whether we subsume the web group or whether it continues 
individually. Not at all.

2. I'd really hate to see us lose occupyaustin.org or to split efforts. 
That's where people will go when they want information, and it'd be a 
huge PR loss for that to go away.

3. I think that absence and control are highly relevant. I don't 
anticipate being absent, but what if I own some critical piece of 
infrastructure, we code the URL into apps and such, then I get hit by a 
car or a cop and end up seriously injured? As someone who ends up in the 
ER regularly due to a dislocated shoulder, I'm very conscious of how 
things can go from great to suck in seconds. Fortunately, for me, my 
brand of suck just costs $4000 and a few hours of my life, plus lots of 
stress. What if, gods forbid, that suck involves dying and losing our 
domain name? I'm not trying to downplay dying itself, but when steps are 
taken that cause others to count on us, we have to think about these things.

I'm working on an app that has to be HIPAA/HITECH-compliant. One of the 
steps I'm taking is encrypting the database such that a password gets 
entered on app startup. When this gets deployed, I'm burning the 
password to CD and placing it in a safety deposit box whose key I'll be 
providing to a trusted party. The idea is that if I'm ever seriously 
incapacitated, the business must continue. This is what I, and perhaps 
others, want to see from the web team. We want to know, among other 
things, that our web presence won't be lost, cracked or otherwise 
compromised.

I hope we can stop sniping at each other. Really felt like junior high 
all over again for a while. And yes, that applies to my own working 
group as well.


On 11/19/2011 06:50 AM, Cesar Fuentez wrote:
> I hate to get into the middle of things but I think I can speak for myself.... but thanks anyway Boyd. I have not stepped down or have been removed from anything. I took a sick leave and that was all. I came back to find you making stuff up about me. Which I really bothered me since you waited till I was sick&  wasn't returning calls to accuse me. But none the less, I will be back on Monday&  will rectify things then. I know you are no longer a magnet as you advocated 2weeks ago. As well Greg advocated 4 weeks ago. However I allowed him to help as a magnet since we were very short on help. Now you(who is no longer a magnet)&  Greg who I only allowed to help when he came back are trying to off me due to my health. Well, I'm not leaving and I'm here to say goodbye&  good luck, but I'm not going anywhere. Greg, I allowed you to come back after you said you quit&  would never be back. However, I never said you were a permanent magnet.(please see Greg's email, where he quits every
>   thing) now you are trying to force me out after my illness. This is not what we are about. I have received calls&  emails from our team members who support me. So with that said. I am back, I am still a magnet&  will resume my role as of Monday. Thanks I hope we can all please get along. I'm sorry I was ill.
>
> Ceaar
>
> Boyd Carter<boydcarter at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> Ok.
>>
>> I'll simplify since there is "too much information to address individually"
>> in my 6 (count 'em) statements with support.  I'll break it down for
>> readability here.
>>
>> Anton, please respond inline.  Feel free to expound.  If I'm wrong, I'm
>> wrong. I'm a big boy.
>>
>> 1. Anton doesn't trust anyone who hasn't been down to city hall. True/False?
>>
>> 2. Anton has thus far refused to participate in peer-reviewed management of
>> occupyaustin.org file systems, databases, emails and distribution lists.
>> True/False?
>>
>> 3. Anton is protecting "cpanel" level access because we are on a shared
>> host with other, professional paid clients of his. True/False?
>>
>> 4. Anton has required payment for hosting services thus far on same shared
>> host with other, for profit paying clients. True/False?
>>
>> 5. [I'll restate as a two part (hope it's not too much) question here as
>> Anton has resolved the funding issues]
>>
>> a) Since Anton has secured "direct donations", how will they be accounted
>> for in a transparent manner?
>>
>> b) What is the monthly cost to host occupyaustin.org web and email?
>>
>> 6. Anton has threatened to leave Occupy Austin and threatened to depart
> >from the city of Austin entirely more than once. True/False?
>> 7. Who administers occupyaustin.org file systems, databases, emails and
>> distribution lists in Anton's absence? Be specific.
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Now for my part. In no particular order.
>>
>> This is not an attack on you personally.  This is an attack on your lack of
>> professionalism as a volunteer service provider.  With facts.
>>
>> Your invectives against me - *those* were personal, calling my character
>> into question and with no basis in fact. So eff you for that. To wit:
>>
>> As a part of my evil-genius-troll plan to take over the world, I have
>> previously announced that I am resigning as Occupy Austin IT and livestream
>> magnet to work on national non-profits (occupyradio.fm, et.al)  Been a
>> while now.  Greg has recently announced that he will be drawing back as
>> well.
>>
>> As of today my transition out of IT and livestream magnet-ism is complete.
>> Please remove me as listed magnet from the website.
>>
>> In apparent ignorance of my own plans for domination I continue to donate
>> my own, paid-for data services and equipment free of charge to Occupy
>> Austin.
>>
>> In furtherance of my self-aggrandizement and profiteering moving forward,
>> I have committed all of the national teams I am organizing to open
>> source/creative commons distribution and licensing of all work.  (My
>> accountant thinks I'm an idiot)
>>
>> As a director of occupyradio.fm et.al. non-profits, I am required to accept
>> NO compensation according to our bylaws. Occupy Wall Street has a seat on
>> the board.  (I'm gonna go broke at this rate)
>>
>> I am a big fan of professionalism, customer service and maintaining service
>> levels.  Even for volunteer work.  So yeah, I will always refer to the kind
>> people who depend on the work and services I provide as "customers".  It's
>> not a dirty word.  Also, I'm also a leader. Sorry, it helps get stuff done
>> and is not exclusive of consensus.  I expect people I work with to show up
>> when they say they will and do what they commit to doing.  I will not
>> apologize for that.  Accountability is important, *especially* in a
>> "leaderless" movement.
>>
>> To the extent that Greg and I accepted web site admin access, it was so
>> that we could program a custom portable-to-any-website implementation of
>> the occupyradioaustin.org Live365 player for Wordpress, which is basically
>> a glorified blog platform.  We took a step back after discovering
>> limitations in the player we had at the time.  Live365 has since released a
>> newer player with better portability.
>>
>> You can't possibly be serious about the Web isn't IT meme.  Integration,
>> site security, defacement, cross-site scripting (you do use a lot of
>> external services Anton).. I could go on but *really*?  Web is a subset of
>> the IT team's skillset.  You should probably just drop that ridiculous
>> notion here before the entire IT team flames you as an incompetent.  Given
>> your list of "WebTeam" responsibilities I'm pretty sure the media, arts and
>> other teams would have something to say here as well.  A blog site does NOT
>> a "WebTeam" make.  And it sure as hell isn't worth $10K as you are so fond
>> of saying, speaking of profiteers.  Um.. and if IT and Web are unrelated,
>> why are you *still* asking members of the IT team to contribute?  I can't
>> wrap my head around your rambling make-believe narrative.
>>
>> I don't understand why its relevant as at least 5 (count 'em) new IT
>> magnets have recently stepped up, but Cesar's actions have spoken for
>> Cesar. That's all anyone needs to know about why he's no longer a magnet.
>> The IT magnets and assembled IT volunteers have discussed this and we all
>> decided to move forward together (novel idea).  Please forward the "Cesar"
>> emails to the list.  Don't leave any out.  Remember we have them too.  Why
>> wait? Cesar's ALL CAPS RAGE EMAIL!!! directed at Greg was hilarious.  His
>> phone calls to me immediately before and after sending said email, with me
>> begging him to calm down, not so much.
>>
>> And so, seconding our sister Gromit with a hearty FUCK YOU!! I bid adios to
>> you, Anton, forever.
>>
>> PLEASE FORWARD.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Boyd
>>
>> P.S. Anton I will carry no anger forward, because anytime I think of you, I
>> will think of this guy and I will laugh my ass off.
>> http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/4qrc
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 11:27 PM, Anton Montoya<
>> bethechange at occupyaustin.org>  wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> This is Anton...
>>>
>>> I was forwarded this email who thought I should be aware of
>>> the misinformation campaign currently being waged by Boyd for personal
>>> reasons unknown. There is too much inaccurate information to address
>>> individually and so I will simply respond with some recent factual
>>> information.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - In the professional environment I've spent the last 15 years working
>>>     in, IT and Web Design and Development have absolutely nothing to do with
>>>     each other. WebTeam is about Design, Development, Marketing, Content
>>>     Management, Print, Media and PR... these skill-sets have nothing to do with
>>>     IT services on a professional level.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - There are currently over 20+ people who have the ability to add
>>>     content to the blog and website pages and we are encouraging each working
>>>     group to find an individual to manage content for their group as well as
>>>     pairing groups up with web volunteers.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - We have recently added a Wiki to the website so that ANYONE can add
>>>     content without requiring specific access, HTML or Admin Skills.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - The WebTeam also does Marketing for working groups promoting rallys
>>>     and marches... including dedicated pages, posters, flyers and graphics.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - The WebTeam currently holds its meetings every Tuesday at 8:30pm
>>>     following the GA at Austin Java, around the corner from City Hall.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - The WebTeam has secured direct donations for hosting and is no
>>>     longer in need of contributions for this service.
>>>
>>>
>>>     - Anyone is welcome to work with the Web Team to contribute to the
>>>     process.
>>>
>>>
>>> At this time I see no reason for the WebTeam to merge with IT as the
>>> services offered by each industry is almost completely unrelated and IT
>>> seems spread thin as it is given Boyd and Greg both have made commitments
>>> to assist with the website which they didn't follow through on. Due to a
>>> recent issue in securing payment from the finance team for dedicated
>>> hosting which was overwhelmingly approved by the GA, we have since secured
>>> direct donations for this service and are no longer in need of GA money or
>>> the web hosting services mentioned in Boyd's email. If there are any people
>>> currently on the IT team with professional experience in the following
>>> areas who are interested in contributing to the website... please contact
>>> the web team at web at occupyaustin.org.
>>>
>>> HTML
>>> WordPress
>>> Photoshop
>>> Illustrator
>>> Photography
>>> Videography
>>>
>>> Thanks you to all of you on the IT team for the services you are offering
>>> to the occupation. Regarding Boyd's personal attack and mis-information...
>>> at this time I'm not planning on going anywhere and neither is the website.
>>> If my plans were to change then I would be sure there was someone to manage
>>> the process prior to my leaving. I am also NOT the only person with
>>> complete access to cPanel or WordPress. The website, as it is, will always
>>> be up... so long as Occupy Austin continues to stand in solidarity with
>>> #OWS on a national level. And I have already committed to turn it over
>>> ownership of the domain and management of the website to a board of
>>> directors within 3 months of an official "Occupy Austin" organization being
>>> formed.
>>>
>>> We all have bad days, question our wherewithal and sometimes say things we
>>> don't mean. It's unfortunate there are trolls like Boyd in your group who
>>> feel the need to exploit these moments of weakness when we should be
>>> supporting each other in our efforts. I've heard Boyd refer to Occupy
>>> Austin as a "Customer" on numerous occasions... this makes me very nervous
>>> and I encourage all of you to question whether what you are currently
>>> working on could be exploited for the personal gain of individuals like
>>> Boyd who is obviously very concerned with further consolidating his power
>>> and personal control.
>>>
>>> You should also know that Greg and Boyd have both attempted to have Cesar
>>> removed from the information stream and as a magnet, against his wishes and
>>> on numerous occasions... Maybe you agree with this, I don't really care.
>>> but the acts themselves have been very underhanded and have led to much
>>> drama. I have emails I can send if you need proof. The point is... Boyd's
>>> email about me is not the first power play initiated by IT magnets based on
>>> mis-information and personal attacks. Maybe next time it's you?
>>>
>>> Please keep up the good work and I encourage all of you to
>>> make certain the work you are doing is for the cause and not the personal
>>> gain of a few individuals.
>>>
>>> Solidarity,
>>>
>>> Anton
>>> Web Team
>>> OccupyAustin.org
>>> We are the 99%
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>>> Subject: Re: [occupyaustin-it] occupyaustin-it Digest, Vol 2, Issue 66
>>>> From: Boyd Carter<boydcarter at gmail.com>
>>>> To: #OccupyAustin Information Technology&  Communications Infrastructure
>>>>         Team<occupyaustin-it at foojutsu.org>
>>>> CC:
>>>>
>>>> A few points.  My perspective, No one else. I sincerely hope we can move
>>>> forward on Saturday and that Anton will work with us to solve the
>>>> problems.
>>>>
>>>> BUT...
>>>>
>>>> 1) Anton doesn't trust anyone who hasn't been down to city hall (his
>>>> words), which is irrational.  There are many valid reasons one might not
>>>> feel comfortable there. We have a safe, secure space for nerd work and he
>>>> has yet to show up there, or engage the IT group for help aside from
>>>> ranting, sometimes on livestream, that no one with the skills needed will
>>>> help him.  This is a LIE.  He has done this, in public, after repeated
>>>> attempts by the IT group (myself and Greg and others via phone, in person,
>>>> attending HIS meetings.. anyway we could get ahold of him) to offer any
>>>> and
>>>> all help he needs.
>>>>
>>>> 2) Anton has thus far refused to participate in peer-reviewed management
>>>> of
>>>> the service as a whole, demonstrating a disdain for consensus driven work
>>>> among a group of peers which is antithetical to the movement.
>>>>
>>>> 3) Anton is protecting "cpanel" level access because we are on a shared
>>>> host with other, professional paid clients of his. We aren't asking for
>>>> root. He is the sole admin for the namespace, file level admin, email
>>>> addresses, email distribution lists, etc. This is a single point of
>>>> failure, and an enormous problem.  This is NOT about whose name is on the
>>>> registrar account or whose name is on the bill for the hosting.  I could
>>>> give a flip.  Administration of the namespace and services, and
>>>> administration of the registrar and accounts are two DIFFERENT issues.
>>>> Don't get it twisted.
>>>>
>>>> 4) Anton has required payment for hosting services thus far on same shared
>>>> host with other, for profit paying clients.  Who is paying for what here?
>>>> Anton was content to let occupyaustin.org GO DARK (no web, no email, no
>>>> nothing) yesterday due to lack of funds from OA after admitting that it
>>>> wasn't about the money and that he had the funds to pay the bill!!!!
>>>>
>>>> 5) The funds Anton has requested (and will be a recurring bill, according
>>>> to Anton yesterday) far exceed the unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth
>>>> managed hosting we've been able to get DONATED for other projects.  Can
>>>> Occupy Austin funds be better used? I think so.
>>>>
>>>> 6) Anton has a knack for calling out others commitment and motives in
>>>> respect to physical presence and ideological backgrounds while
>>>> consistently
>>>> threatening to leave Occupy Austin and threatening to depart from the city
>>>> of Austin entirely. At least 4 times by my count, officially, that I have
>>>> witnessed.  Anton's commitment to Occupy Austin is demonstrably absent.
>>>>
>>>> I've tried to keep it factual, but these are the problems we have.  I hope
>>>> we can work them out.
>>>>
>>>> Lastly, I will say this.  As CTO of occupyradio.fm and other related
>>>> national/meta non-profit services, I will not have Anton on any team I
>>>> work
>>>> with or organize.  This is purely a reactive, firefighting exercise and a
>>>> waste of time.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Boyd
>>>>
>>>> P.S. Greg asked that the issue be tabled while I was drafting this.  I
>>>> agree, but I had this in the pipeline and I'm sending it.  I'm leaning on
>>>> his diplomacy to help us work this out from here on, as we all should.  In
>>>> a CONSENSUS DRIVEN PROCESS.  Enough about Anton.  The facts are known.
>>>> Lets
>>>> solve the problem.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Joe Cooper<swelljoe at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> From: Alan Viosca<alanviosca at gmail.com>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm starting to have a very large problem with the way Anton is
>>>> claiming
>>>>>> ownership of the domain name and creating personal demands. I also
>>>> wonder
>>>>>> if creating a board of directors (not to mention the "dictatorship" he
>>>>>> holds over the domain) directly goes against the idea of horizontal
>>>>>> leadership within OA. We've already seen this problem of ownership of
>>>>>>
>>>>>> donations with other people (if anyone was around for Joshua and his PA
>>>>>> system), and it needs to be addressed. It might not be pretty, either.
>>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe I'm missing something in this conversation...but, I'd like to
>>>> point
>>>>> out that a lot of people have access to the entirety of the website
>>>> content
>>>>> (myself included; I asked for access so I could upload GA minutes, and
>>>> got
>>>>> it the next day, including the ability to update all of the pages).
>>>> It's my
>>>>> understanding that several IT team members also have similar access. If
>>>>> Anton is exerting control over content, I'm unaware of it.
>>>>>
>>>>> I see a lot of suspicious folks acting like everyone is out to get
>>>>> everyone else. Damned near every working group is talking about their
>>>>> suspicions of damned near every other working group. I don't think this
>>>>> attitude is productive.
>>>>>
>>>>> A domain name must be owned by someone or some legal entity. I don't see
>>>>> how any other specific person owning the domain is better than Anton
>>>> owning
>>>>> the domain name. What you're doing in asking Anton to hand over the
>>>> domain
>>>>> to "IT team" is to hand it over to some single person on the IT team. He
>>>>> looks at that the same way you guys are looking at one guy holding the
>>>>> domain name: with suspicion and hesitation. His position is a reasonable
>>>>> one, given the demands people are making on him to hand over the domain
>>>> to
>>>>> someone...he wants to insure that if it goes to "the group" it actually
>>>>> goes to an entity that legally answers to the group. Any individual on
>>>> the
>>>>> IT team does not meet that qualification. You're saying, "I don't trust
>>>> an
>>>>> individual to have control over the domain name. I demand that you hand
>>>> the
>>>>> domain name over to another individual."
>>>>>
>>>>> If there's an issue with the website not being up to date or complete,
>>>>> somebody with access needs to start updating it; if the people who
>>>> already
>>>>> have access aren't willing to do that, then someone else needs to step
>>>> up
>>>>> and volunteer and actually do the work. There are currently 31 users
>>>> with
>>>>> access to the website content, including several Administrator level
>>>> users
>>>>> (some on the IT team; which means IT team members can grant access to
>>>> the
>>>>> website content).
>>>>>
>>>>> Those are issues that can be solved. Don't make this into another witch
>>>>> hunt. I'm annoyed at the way folks handled the PA issue, too. I'm glad
>>>> the
>>>>> PA is gone, but I don't like that people made it into a power struggle.
>>>> We
>>>>> can have a conversation about this stuff without turning it into yet
>>>>> another us against them fight. We are all "us", including Anton. We're
>>>>> better than that.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> occupyaustin-it at foojutsu.org
>>>>> http://foojutsu.org/mailman/listinfo/occupyaustin-it
>>>>>
>>>>>
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