Author: Brandon

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ExactFile (Formerly FileCheckMD5) Updated

ExactFile 1.0.0.15 was posted last week. This is, I hope, a “feature complete” beta. The “Create TestFiles Applet” function is finished, making the old FileCheckMD5 program completely obsolete.

The ExactFile web site has been updated with lots of details about the software, including a list of checksum methods currently implemented.

ExactFile is a file integrity verification system I have developed, which works much like md5sum / sha1sum / sfv / fsum / etc., replacing my old program FileCheckMD5. It’s no longer just a MD5 checker. It supports a variety of checksum (hash) algorithms, including MD5, SHA1, CRC32, and others; is multi-threaded; and Unicode complaint. It also includes a simple method for “stamping” your CD-ROM and DVD-ROM deployment folders so that they can be tested (validated) by an end-user just by double-clicking a file on the CD.

Gun bans in the US to help Mexico?


Not entirely unexpected: Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban. A couple of short points to consider:

  • The former “Assault Weapons” ban did not lower violent crime, and when it expired, violent crime did not increase.
  • There is no such thing as an “Assault Weapon.”  It is a figment of a politician’s imagination; a term invented to squelch debate on a subject. Most of the guns banned by the former law were not functionally different from “hunting weapons.” Also, ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are illegal under the ban. Somehow, according to politicians, having 11 bullets in your hand gun to defend yourself is considered “too much,” but 10 is okay. (Arbitrary and illogical.)

But this has all been said before. Left wingers have an irrational fear of firearms, and now they are in a position of power to implement policy that appeals to their base. It doesn’t matter that the policy is emotional and infringes on the Constitutional rights of Americans.

So here’s the “funny” part, if this can ever be considered “funny.”

Holder (the Obama administration mouthpeice for infringment of Constitutional liberties) said:

“I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.”

So, get this straight: Our president wants our Second Amendment rights infringed and one of the rationales is that it will help Mexico — a country where gun laws are doing nothing to stem rampant crime and corruption. Got that?

On a related note, I’m reading John Lott’s book Straight Shooting. A nice easy read, it’s a collection of a bunch of articles he’s written over the last few years on gun control topics.

Obama is President. Deal with it.

Politics can bring out the worst in anybody.

Let me start by saying that I am not happy about Obama being elected President. Not happy at all. But I’ve managed to turn my unhappiness with the election into the same feeling you get right before you sneeze — you know, that resignation that this is simply out of your control and it will happen regardless of your approval, and all protestations to the contrary will matter nary a wit.

And let’s insert the obligatory “Omaba is bad” stuff: He knows nothing about business.  He has no real-world experience in anything. His ideas are bad. He supports the killing of infants recently born because, you know, saving their lives would be too much of a burden on a woman who has chosen to kill her child. And he wants to take guns away from law abiding citizens.  Check. Check. Check. Yadda yadda.

But here’s the thing: He’s president. I’m not going to act like some pipsqueek liberal holding a sign that says “Bush is not my president.”  Because he is.

And you know why?

Because God wants him there.

Chew on that. Chew on that real good. (Don’t swallow as you might choke, but chew for a little while.)

It doesn’t matter how much you dislike Obama.  It doesn’t matter how good your reasons are for disliking him.

Romans 13:1-2  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

There is just no getting around this. Paul lived under a nation that had both just and unjust laws. The sins of the leadership of the United States aren’t any worse than those of the Roman government. And yet Paul didn’t dwell on his government.  He didn’t intermingle the Gospel with warnings about Caesar. Even when Paul was accused of crimes that would have resulted in his execution, he didn’t set out on a campaign of reform against his government.

Now back to the first thing I said: Politics can bring out the worst in anybody. I have heard people say the worst of curses against their new President. And it bugs me. Here’s why:

1 Timothy 2:1-2  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Here Paul tells us what our attitude about our leaders must be. We are to pray for them and even give thanks for them.

Ouch. That’s hard. I think living up to Old Testament standards might even be easier than giving thanks for Obama.

But there it is, nonetheless. And Paul told us why. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” This is God’s will for us. This is what we should be striving for — not to get ABC, NBC, or CBS to air the right news. But to live a peacable life. And there is a flip side. Ignoring this exhortation means getting the opposite of “peaceable life.”

Yes, it’s nice to be right. Of course Obama is going to be one of the worst presidents this country has ever had. And, no, of course you don’t have to be happy about it. And in four years, you will get to vote against him again. Maybe in four years enough of the people in the country will see what’s right to prevent his re-election.

What do we do in the meantime?

Proverbs 29:2  When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Notice the key here: mourn. No rebellion, no railing. Mourning.

I’m thankful I live in a country where I have freedom of speech and can blog about things that interest me, like economics and the insanity of environmentalism. I am thankful I get a “say” in who my governors are. But in the end I know that nothing I do is going to change the fact that it is going to take Christ returning and establishing his own rule in Earth for anything to get better.

So I’ll deal with the fact that Obama is president.

I hope you will, too.