Thanks for visiting my web site; I'm Crawford Godsey. Although I've got a degree in management, I started out as a philosophy major and I suppose that's effected my approach to looking at business and the world. I've been working with PC's about 20 years either as an end-user or supporting end-users. What's an end-user? That's the person at the keyboard who has to get the work done and who generally gets used in the end! One lesson might be that technology has better uses than reducing people to labor units in a production equation. Hmm - it could happen!!

But hey, there's more to life than what you're staring at on your screen!! Personally, I'm big on horses, the Blue Ridge, autumn hikes on a cool day, sighthounds, art, good cooking - and many other things just like most people. However since you're here, the links you'll see below and in other places will allow you to navigate with a minimum of scrolling.

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The Luddite Revolt of 1812 probably didn't get much mention in your history books. It was a small and sometimes bloody rebellion during the early industrial revolution in England. At that time, the development of the mechanical loom destroyed a way of life for the men and women dependent on cottage-industry weaving. Perhaps anecdotally, the "Luddite" name is associated with one Ned Ludd, who reportedly destroyed a piece of weaving machinery. Today, the term is sometimes applied to those who raise objections to various forms of what is labeled as "progress" as perhaps not being progress at all.

The poet William Blake and the author Charles Dickens both contributed their observations of the effects of these changes in their own time and more modern history has its own examples of debatable progress. The rise of the personal automobile in place of public transportation, power generation resource choices, the "information" revolution; all these and more are generating profound changes in almost every society on the globe, but at what price and with what benefits? Obviously, I created this page on a personal computer and posted it on an internet site, but that doesn't mean I'm sold on many of the items on the menu that's being passed around these days. What about you?

Like many movements of this type, different persons and groups that have been labeled as "Luddites" have differing opinions and ideas. For an interesting trip and some hopefully challenging ideas, type "luddite" into any internet search engine and see where it takes you.

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• Why do people think that throwing PC's at the school system will produce better students?
  Bonus Question: If children can't read, when all else fails, how will they read the instructions?
• When we talk about all the new jobs we've created over the last 5 years, how many of the workers displaced by economic changes during that same time period will be able to find new jobs with pay and benefits equivalent to the jobs they've lost?
  Bonus Question: How long does it take to retrain these people for jobs in the new economy and how do they get by until then?
• How important is the personal computer to persons who are essentially home-bound?
• What can the personal computer do for the small business owner or someone who wants to be self-employed.
  Bonus Question:What information is available for these people over the internet?
• How many companies provide real training for current employees on the systems they're supposed to operate and how many expect the end-user to learn it "when you've got some spare time."?
• What are likely to be the long-term effects of teaching business school students to think of workers as labor units when evaluating business problems?
• There are people living in regions without local dial access for the internet. Should someone - some level of government, private industry, etc. - subsidize standard rate access for these people or should they wait for the system to catch up to them?

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• Small Is Beautiful - E.F.Schumacher; subtitled "Economics As If People Mattered"; a highly qualified economist looks at the issue of whether bigger is better from a very intelligible perspective.
• The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame; think of Toad as a modern neophiliac - then picture him in the millions - who needs the "X-Files" to give you the willies?
• Silicon Snake Oil - Clifford Stoll; an insightful and thought-provoking look at personal computers and the internet by someone who's been in the thick of it for some time.
• Being Digital - Nicholas Negropointe; another, different and well-written view of the thick of it from a respected member of the MIT faculty and columnist for "Wired" who has the ear of a number of industry and government leaders.
• Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics - Michael Wheeler; it's said that figures don't lie, but liars figure. This offers a good introduction to the topic of public opinion polls as applied to some historical examples well within living memory.

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I'm a bit unconventional; a MWCM with a pierced ear and 2 silver torques on my right wrist sometimes working as a computer consultant specializing in desktop systems and applications. I'm a member of the Reformed Episcopal Church although I have friends in many denominations. In my spare time, I enjoy horseback riding with a concentration on hunter/jumper and combined training. I also enjoy hiking, photography, museums, sighthounds and the performing arts.

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Fleur-De-Croix offers a variety of specialized computer services with a focus on the needs of small business and home desktop systems owners. Fleur-De-Croix can assist with: System Requirements Evaluations Purchases of Hardware & Software Installations & Upgrades Systems Fundamentals Training Systems Support Introduction to the Web

email to cfordg at yahoo.com

This site and it's contents have been developed by Crawford Godsey. Direct use of any proprietary elements of this site without attribution is at least a violation of good taste and maybe even some trademark laws.

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Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 - Babylon 5 was one of the best (IMHO) series on TV and had one of the few story lines that reflects the heroic archetype so important in the history of literature; not the "official" home page, but you can go there (and some other fun places) from the Lurker's Guide. As the series has concluded and is now in syndication, a story almost as convoluted as any series, I'm not sure how long this site will be maintained.
Yahoo - Arguably the best known of the net search engines; they also now offer free e-mail and other goodies (some require a fee). This is generally where I start my searches although I'm sure we all have our favorites.
WebMuseum - A great place to look at museum offerings with links to mirror sites to speed up your browsing
Art on the Net - We may argue about what art is, but we all seem to look for it.
Library of Congress - Major information source; you may need to know how to handle Telnet sessions, 'nuff said
NASA (Goddard Space Center) - Ad astra per aspera & wonderful pictures too!!
University of Oregon - Ye Olde Alma Mater - Go Ducks!!!!