Any Admin (not necessarily Ari)

[Executive Engineer]

Could any admin please give me admin over the County of Bjorngard if its possible? Instead of asking admin to make all the changes I want and bothering them, it would be alot easier if I could do it myself.

Thanks.

[hypatias mom]

May I ask who you are, requesting this power? I'm afraid I don't recognize your identity. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 11P1M5.DTL
And engineer with a grudge can do a lot of damage.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

(That would be Hasan)

Anyway that cyber-coup in San Francisco... not quite Die Hard is it.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Assuming you meant mod, and not admin - done.
If you want administrative powers, I'm not sure that's possible for just one forum. You'd have to ask Ari.

[Hesam Jayatar]

I did mean admin for just one forum. The reasoninnow Ari is usually busy, so I'd rather attempt to re-do the forums myself instead of bothering him if its possible.

(Carol, It's Hasan, I'm working on a new project and for some reason 5 syllable Persian names tend to ruin the effect)

[hypatias mom]

Thanks for filling me in. This story in San Francisco is all over the news, and has colored my post, I'm afraid. They have issued a bail of $5 million, much higher than for murderers, because they don't want this guy to get near a computer for fear of the mischief and damage he is capable of doing. One of the scenarios they cited was erasing city files, sabotaging various functions (such as contol over the water system, traffic lights, jail locks, and other vital systems) or just destroying these systems. He put them into order for the city, so he knows the system inside and out. A good computer person is a two-edged sword. He can be vitally important to your system's organization and functioning, or he can cause untold havoc. I guess it is a cautionary tale--know to whom you give the power.

And, no, Hasan, I am not afraid of your intentions here. I just wanted to know who this Executive Engineer is. I vaguely recall now reading a post by the Khan appointing you to this position, but had forgotten. I apologize for my forgetfulness.

[Hesam Jayatar]

No problem Carol. Even outside of that, it's your job to inquire. Your vigilance is a virtue.

[hypatias mom]

Thank you for your forbearance, Hasan. In RL, my husband is a hardware and software engineer in a position of trust similar to this person who betrayed it in San Francisco. I know just how much damage a rogue can do, hence my vigilence. In Bob's former jobs, a person who was being fired or laid off would be escorted from the moment they received that news, so they would not be able to retaliate. This was standard proedure in almost all conpanies here in Silicon Valley. I don't know what precautions they have had to add now that there is such easy communication between networks and over the internet.

[Hesam Jayatar]

You know, I have some experience dealing with software and network security people. When I hear of stories like this I can never understand why they choose the destructive route when there is so much money to be had in private security consultancies. I mean, if this individual knew as much as you say (and I have no doubt), he'd make a fortune elsewhere in his own business.

[hypatias mom]

Apparently, he set up the new computer system in 2003, and knows all its ins and outs. I don't know what his argument with San Francisco is, but he changed the passwords, and only he knows the new ones. He has offered the city the passwords in exchange for no prosecution and accession to his demands, and the city won't budge. It's attempted extortion. His lawyer says the city is blowing it out of proportion. I believe this computer expert got mad and wanted to threaten harm to the citry without thinking what this would do to his future. No one will ever trust hin in a secure position again.

[Hesam Jayatar]

But that's just it. Even if the city broke contract (it happens), then it wouldn't be that difficult to move on. Considering computer people operate almost like a guild, he could simply state "don't work with the city, they'll rip you off". Or, when they hire you back as a security consultant, and you're the best there is, simply charge them for the loss on the original contract. Half the people won't even be working in the same positions anymore. I guess my over all point is, there is no need to go the destructive route, especially when you're that qualified. I mean, someone with that much knowledge should be clearing 120,000$ an. easily. At least that's the case in Canada.

[hypatias mom]

And that is one thing that boggles the minds of most of the software people I've heard from. He is the best, technically, but he has some problem which caused him to go destructive. Therefore, though his technical prowess is without question, his ethical balance seems to have been jetisoned in favor of terroristic tactics. To essentially hold the city for ransom is to throw away all credibility he has gained over the many formerly reliable years of his career.

I don't know how much the city of San Francisco was paying this man, or what constitutes his problem with the city. But whatever the circulmstances, it is rare to make as large a salary in government service as in the private sector. I wonder that he didn't just find a job in industry rather than throw his life away in this manner.

[Ari Rahikkala]

I did mean admin for just one forum. The reasoning is that I know Ari is usually busy, so I'd rather attempt to re-do the forums myself instead of bothering him if its possible.

Can't be done on phpBB. Just tell me what changes you need on the forum (send me the CSS files and such if you want them customised) and I'll apply them once I can (I *should* be getting a decent connection again real soon now... i.e. sometime next week...)

[Hesam Jayatar]

Ok, I sent you a mock up of the general idea. I know its not much, I'll talk to some people who know what they're doing so I can give you the correct information.

[Ari Rahikkala]

You did? Oh... yeah, that PM from AUTOMAT INCORP. (does that remind anyone else of HICKTOP SAILOR?)

Ay, seems this is just background images... get someone to write a stylesheet.css that looks like this and I can put it up . If you need to change the underlying HTML, you'll find the template files at:

Overall header
Overall footer
Body for thread view
Body for forum view

[Hesam Jayatar]

I'm learnd'ing....

Um, well I understand the concept, but this is going to take me a bit to figure out.

Yes it's a background image, I suppose it would have been better to sort of at least base it off of the forums I was going to be adapting it to. Ari, when you have time and a regular internet connection, could we discuss this on MSN?

[Hesam Jayatar]

Ok this is what I can make out. Using that image I sent you as a reference, the following issues are of concern:

1. the actual background would be black.

2. The forums themselves would have to display in a thinner fashion (if that makes sense or is possible)

3. The cityscape images and tube images would be anchored to the forums, where as the Shireroth header would be above that?

4. The border images (the sign on the right) would be anchored to the forum (if thats possible).


Edit: Alright I sent you the revised mockup tailored to the Shireroth system. As I said, I don't know much about how the forums work stylesheets etc.. but if the new mockup makes sense to you, could you give me some insight on what would need to be changed to accomplish the idea?