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I have been writing on the role of communications technology as a catalyst for behavioral change for three decades. My early thinking was influenced by my late father, a founding member of the computer industry in South Africa. He often said "the only thing you can count count on is change" and "words are things, use them wisely".
But it was the writer Alvin Toffler, in particular through his book Future Shock, and then Power Shift, who really got my mind working on the relationships between how we feel, (attitude) what we know , (awareness) what we do and change.
Internet technology has enabled a new paradigm of how we communicate. But with this freedom has come a loss of many traditional values. Like information organization, information integrity and enforcement of socially acceptable behavior. In fact the Internet has encouraged us to become even more selfish than we already are!
My first published material goes back to 1975 and the CIA's "secret" involvement with Angola & South Africa. When you look at what the CIA presented to Congress in 1976, and compare this to the facts tht have been uncovered today, I have good reason to be suspicious of all in power and authority. While living in Marin County I stumbled into PG&E's blatant attempt to manipulate the CPUC in California. To find how first a Grand Jury and then a respected group of city mayors could be manipulated by a PG&E paid lobbyst. All to stifle local competition in energy generation.
As I wrote in my personal blog, Open4energy and the Open4 family of web sites did not start out with a vision for me to write on social issues. We have evolved into a community resource and the #1 site on the web for the exposure of energy scams. When I first discovered the facts related to the discharge of mercury by dentists into our public waste water systems I was shocked. Once again I find myself in the middle of corporate interests and the manipulation of information to support their motives and profits. I do not subscribe to conspiracy theory, but I know vested interests when I see them.
Open4Energy was conceived when I was laid off by Sentilla in April 2009 for refusing to participate in an embellished sales forecast being presented to our investors. I did not expect that I would spend the next 3 years without an income, no health cover, or learning PHP and Drupal.
After the usual resume' dance, with no replies, I decided to publish a web site as a living resume' of my programming skills and knowledge of energy monitoring. The first article published on Open4Energy was a tutorial on how to configure Cacti and a smart PDU. The tutorial allowed me to share my technical experience with the open source community, and have a real web site with which to demonstrate my Drupal skills. We have come a long way from there.
I care about the accuracy of the information we publish. It should make you think without being sensorious or manipulative. We need to use fewer chemicals when we can. I sincerely hope that you will embrace bio-cleaning or one of our other topics in the same way that you follow the news, football or whatever else motivates you.
I am at peace with God today because of what Jesus did for me. This site would not exist if it were not for following Jesus as Lord of my life. I have been given a new attitude, and I trust that I can serve you in a way that is honoring to what I believe and a light in our community.
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