View and vote on the article here: Let?s Talk: Interview with Fu
Let?s Talk: Interview with Fu| Category | | | Summary | | This month I?m pleased to interview recently promoted Kernel Fu, Commanding Officer of Privacy Commission, perhaps one of the most interviewed members of CyberArmy. |
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The reason for this? Well, even though we published two interviews with you already[1], we felt that there are some issues and topics that have been left out in the past, and some new events in Fu?s life in and outside CyberArmy.
I?ll skip all the standard questions concerning your career in CA, as they have already been discussed at length in past interviews. We all (should) know that you?re a long-time member of the community, and that you earned your rank again from Trooper after the rank split. From 2002 on, you have mainly worked in the CyberArmy Privacy Commission, and have recently become its Commanding Officer.
When exactly did you become CPC C/O, and how did it affect your life here in CyberArmy?
I replaced Doeycall as the C/O of CPC on the 6th of September 2005. Well, I can dedicate a lot more time to CPC now and make sure things are running according to plan. It really is a lot of pressure when the performance of an entire brigade can reflect on your ability to lead it.
Is there anything you have already accomplished in your short time as CPC C/O? What?s your personal mission and plan for CPC?
Well, I've only been C/O for 5 weeks so as far as accomplishments go, I can say the brigade is still intact. :p On a serious note however, I'm glad to see that all projects are progressing quite well. CPC's mission is to provide the public with information and tools to combat privacy threats. We strive to increase the level of public awareness with regards to online privacy.
What are CPC?s current ongoing projects? Off the top of my head, I can think of Privacy Watch Releases[2] and the new Petition Center[3], so can you describe them briefly? Are there any other ongoing projects?
Privacy Watch Releases is CPC's monthly publication which tackles various privacy issues. We have recently launched our first petition for the Petition Center; it is about identity theft, and proposes that the United States government implement certain laws in order to prevent it. As far as other ongoing projects, we are planning to code a new CPC site, and although we do not plan to begin working on a new site for a little while, it will be something to look for in the future.
In a past interview you said that CPC was lacking manpower. Is this still true?
Unfortunately, this is still true for CPC and most of CA in general. We make do with what we have and manage to get things going, but it would be great to see a lot more members participating in these great projects.
Let?s change the subject for a bit: you recently became a ?Staff Trainee?...could you explain what that is, exactly? Can you disclose any details about some part of the training, or at least describe it generally?
I am doing my Staff training, which basically means I have partial staff-like access to the website, and I have to study some training modules, such as effective leadership and forum moderation, just to name a few. I also learn how Staff works and how CA is governed. When all the modules are complete, the current Staff members assess whether or not I am suitable for the position and then a vote is conducted.
In one of your past interviews, you said:
?[...] I hope to really make a difference in this place. I really do believe that staff does the greatest job of all in CA, and would hope to become a staff member so that my influence can have an effect on CA as a whole and not just CPC.?
You?re now pretty close to becoming a Staff member now, and you are already a Top Level Brigade Commander. You?re already a very trustworthy member and one of the best people we have here, so someone may say that you are already making a difference, but let?s imagine you are now on Staff. What would you do to help CA? Any plans?
Thank you very much for the kind words. Well, firstly, I would like to push for the release of the /projects system, I think it will be a great new feature for CA which will cause a lot more people to participate in CA projects. I am currently quietly working on a new CA layout, aimed at making CA more user-friendly, with a more impressive looking design. This, however, will not be done for a long time. What I've learned since that interview is that making changes in CA as a whole usually consists of making small changes as you go along; it's all about baby steps.
We have people coming on our forums every so often saying that CA isn?t this or that, or are not doing anything, or it should change radically. What do you think members and Staff should do at this stage? Do you think that something should be changed or not?
Well, people like that have always existed in CA, but you cannot implement revolutionary changes just to please one person. Some complain about not having challenges, others complain about the ranking system, but in the end you simply cannot please everyone. CyberArmy is simply what it is and the fact that it has survived through so much turmoil in the past years does show that although it is not the greatest of communities, it is headed in the right direction and will live on for many more years. I think things are fine the way they are, other than a few improvements here and there. As I said earlier, baby steps.
Now I?d like to ask you a few non-CA questions, if you don?t mind. You can answer them at your discretion, of course.
I don?t know you personally, but you seem to be quite interested in web design, development etc. You even started a ?hosting company? yourself, which became widely popular within CA. What happened with Chillbox.net[4]? Are you still offering hosting services?
The chillbox.net domain was suspended for a while because one of the free accounts I gave out to a CA member was used to put a phishing escrow.com clone website on the server, which violaed my registrar's terms and conditions. I have recently paid the fees and transferred registrars, and now I can happily announce that chillbox.net is back! Those who still have their free accounts are free to use them, but I am reluctant to give out any new accounts unless I am familiar with that member. I still offer paid hosting services which you can check out on the website.
Do you have any suggestions or tips for people who are interested in creating an online business? Not necessarily a hosting company, but more in general. In short, is it still possible for ?normal people? to make money on the Web starting from scratch?
I think it is definitely possible for people to make money on the Web! If the short yet packed history of the Internet has taught us anything, it is that it has great business potential. For anyone wanting to start out in any online business, I think all you need is the right kind of idea, a good business model, and the will and means to implement those ideas and get your site out there.
Anything to say about ?StonerArmy What happened to it?
StonerArmy is just a parody site of CA I made a long time ago, I think it can still be found at http://army.stonedlife.com, and I still have a small channel on CAIRC which averages about three sentences a month. :p
And now, to conclude, another more general question about CyberArmy:
Do you think CyberArmy helped you in your life, in particular regarding anything computer-related? If so, in what sense? Why should someone become a CyberArmy member?
Most definitely, a lot of my web design and graphics experience was because of CA. Hosting the CPC site has helped me to become a better admin, as I've learned and picked up things along the way. I have learned a lot from CA members since I've joined, and I hope I've helped a few. Someone should become a CA member if they have a passion for IT and related fields and have a willing and curious mind. It also helps if they can stand the ugly blue background :p
Thank you so much for your time, Fu, it has been an honor to interview you once again. If want to say something else to our readers, feel free to do so.
Thank you so much, it's been a great pleasure as always. Cheers.
Links and Resources
[1]?Interview with Major fu?, zZine Magazine, April 4th 2004, by Sorcer: http://www.zzine.org/read.php?op=view&item=858
?CPC Interview : LtKer Fu?, zZine Magazine, November 28th 2004, by Xayto: http://www.zzine.org/read.php?op=view&item=1181
[2] Privacy Watch Releases: http://www.privacycom.net/pwatch/
[3]CPC Petition Center: http://www.privacycom.net/petitions/
[4]ChillBox Web Hosting: http://www.chillbox.net/
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This article was imported from zZine. (original author: h3raLd)
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