Strength for Youth

The principles taught in For the Strength of Youth are not only valid for adults, but are a great foundation to build a righteous life upon. I love For the Strength of Youth and I find the simplicity of its teachings powerful. On my mission, I often used For the Strength of Youth to teach principles of the gospel to investigators. I found that the brevity and simplistic style of the book allowed for simple but meaningful communication. I have read For the Strength of Youth dozens of times and I frequently return to it for clear and solid guidance regarding music, movies, media, friends, chastity, agency, and many other topics. The book is a great starting point to build a foundation for a righteous life. By taking the principles in For the Strength of Youth and strengthening, enhancing, and building upon them using the scriptures, words of the living prophets, and thoughtful prayer, an adult can build a firm foundation for a righteous life.

Twitter and Conference!

Using twitter during conference is distracting, but I did find one good use for it! As soon as a general authority would say something profound, the statement would be tweeted and re-tweeted dozens of times instantly. I found that by reading and rereading the same quote 5 or 6 times, it would become engraved in my mind. Then, I would remember what the talk was about hours and even days later. For example, President Uchtdorf talked about avoiding darkness and standing in the light. The reason I remember that is because of all the tweets I read as he was speaking. However, this was the only redeeming quality that I found about using Twitter during conference. Most of the things people would say things that were not worth my attention but I would find myself reading them anyway.

Gaming Gaming Gaming

Video games have positive effects; playing video games excessively effectively obliterate these effects. Problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, quick thinking, strategy, situation awareness, memory, concentration, pattern recognition, and teamwork are outcomes of playing video games. Gamers are also considered to be great at multitasking and focusing for extended periods of time. However, just like any other hobby, immoderate amounts of time spent playing video games will destroy all positive effects. As a temperate gamer, I find it hard to see video games take so much heat for addiction when there are so many other hobbies that I see people addicted to. Fishing, shopping, and eating are examples. Balance must be maintained in any hobby. This is the principle that we should be teaching and focusing on.

Tis' the Season to Game

Here Comes Everybody

Open-source work is a phenomenon. Whether it be Linux, Wikipedia, or a small project that fails, open-source work shows the human desire to contribute. An innate part of being human is love and care for the welfare of others. Although, admittedly, this attribute doesn't always shine in human beings, this idea of love for the community and things created by the it drive the development of amazing tools like Linux and Wikipedia. Shirky speaks of failure for free in regards to open-source work; I would add to this idea success for free. Whether a project succeeds or fails really is trivial; what matters is the united endeavor to contribute and create. This deep-seeded desire to create and share brings to mind the implementation of the Law of Consecration, or even a Socialist-run government. Unfortunately, we have seen that with too much freedom and too little governing, groups of people become destructive and unfair. The remarkable characteristic of open-source work is that destructive work is nearly immediately eradicated and repelled. The sense of camaraderie and well-being in a community of contributors is nearly impossible to restrain or destroy, and thus astounding works such as Linux and Wikipedia are created.    

Techies and the Church

Technology is a powerful tool to the Church; it is also a major distraction. Computers are used at temples for records and have drastically increased the rate at which ordinance work can be performed. Computers used for genealogy allow members to find and ensure temple work is performed for loved ancestors. Computers also play a large role in welfare management, materials management, and record keeping. However, technology has become a huge distraction in the Church as well. A Sunday School teacher sharing a lesson while 4 or 5 students play games, text, or check sports scores on iPhones has become a frequent occurrence. The Spirit has a hard time teaching when these things are going on. I personally am a fan of physical scriptures, because it removes the temptation of opening an app or game on a phone. It even feels a bit strange for me to see a bishop carrying around an iPad. I hope that technology can continue to be a powerful tool for the Church, while the distraction component can be minimized.    

How Many Eyes Does a Box Jellyfish Have?

More eyes means faster debugging and more efficient use of resources. Take the theoretical development plans of company A and company B for example. Company A hires a handful of highly-trained and experienced software testers to gut out bugs and find solutions in the commercial software being constructed. These experts spend months pounding through source code hunting for bugs. Eventually, the software is deemed satisfactory for release. This plan is fine but has significant drawbacks. Once the software is released, it will  be stretched and strained by thousands of users and more bugs will inevitably arise. The experts then have to find and fix the bugs. This process is slow and requires paying the experts a lot of money. Now lets consider Company B's development plan. Company B plans to release beta versions of its software and allow users, along with experts of their own, to help co-develop the software. With a thousand more sets of eyes, bugs are found and dealt with quickly. This plan is faster and more efficient.