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.

Family History

The internet is a powerful and enabling tool in the hands of LDS members for family history work. Family history is a principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it is as important as paying tithing or following the Word of Wisdom. Fortunately, the internet provides a simple and feasible way for anyone with access to a computer to add personal ancestral information into a database. Thousands of people use the internet to further the work each day. It only makes sense that the internet is a great tool for family history work. Both use massive data bases and intricate connections so linking the two together is like putting wheels on a car and telling the driver to hit the gas. One issue to keep in mind, however, is that giving this power to all ordinary people means that errors will arise so a system of verification is needed.

Copyright

File-sharing is not all bad for musical artists. The radio increases record sales by allowing free access to music. Likewise, artists gain popularity through file-sharing. They make money from this in other ways. I will use myself as an example. I discovered the band Silverstein through friends and file-sharing. I liked their music so much that I paid $25 to go see them live and even bought a t-shirt. Let me do some math. Buying Silverstein's CD would be around $12; what they got from me was around $40. Had I not discovered this band through file-sharing, I would not have bought their CD, gone to their concert, or bought a shirt. Companies can complain about copyright infringement but it honestly is not the artists pushing these laws, it is the company executives who want to continue to rule the industry.

Immovable Souls

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57570274-37/apple-chairman-levinson-i-still-miss-steve/

A company needs a heart and soul to be extraordinary. Bill Gates (Microsoft), Sam Walton (Walmart),  Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook), and Steve Jobs (Apple), are remarkable entrepreneurs that became the soul of their company. Apple's current chairman Arthur Levinson recently said, "I'm still not to the point where I walk into that board room and don't miss Steve." Apple is the trophy of a man who became the heart and soul of his company. Apple was able to create new peaks in the industry of technology because it was driven by a wildly passionate man. From the time that Jobs passed, there is empirical evidence that Apple is now slipping from its once firmly-footed ground. The company's stock price is down 32% from 6 months ago, and there is no doubt that Apple will continue to suffer setbacks as they look forward.

Oppan Hacker Style

What attracts bright, talented computer experts to hacking? There isn't much difference between a computer hacker and a computer security expert. Both understand how to navigate and work operating systems, software, and computer hardware. The difference is purely ethical. And computer experts have an ethical responsibility to use their skills for good, just as a doctor or a lawyer has ethical responsibilities in his respective field. It is sad that some computer experts turn to hacking. And I wonder why they do. The story of The Cuckoo's Egg shows what happens when computer skills are put to wrong use. Lives can be destroyed. In the story, hacking is a means of feeding a cocaine addiction and ends in suicide. I wonder how many other drug addictions are being fed, or how many equally terrible ends are being met from hacking. I do not think that money is the real issue. Hackers are bright, talented people. A hacker gains a rush of confidence or self-satisfaction for showing that he can break into a secure system, or shut down hundreds of computers for a few days. It is the challenge that really turns computer experts to hacking. It is like a really big, hard puzzle that not many can solve. I think of Sherlock Holmes and his addiction to solving mysteries. It is the challenge that motivates Holmes to greatness. A hacker is motivated by pushing the limits of what has already been accomplished, and striving to prove that he can accomplish what others before him have not been able to.

Computers, Women, and the Bully Media

There are not a lot of women in computer science because of the media. The media encourages women to become physically beautiful and emotionally strong but not nerdy. In media productions, nerdy women usually get no love (remember- the media doesn't always reflect truth). I mean in TV shows and movies it is always the nerdy math girl that gets picked on and looks bad. Want to see a powerful and confident computer programmer in the media? Go watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. What I want to pass to you is that as long as math and computers are seen as uncool in popular culture, the number of women enrolling in computer science will stay low. As for me, I think it's hot! (In a sort of sin^2(x) + cos^2(x) = 1 kind of way)

Facebook on a Phone

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/social-media/facebook-mobile-users/index.html

More mobile Facebook users than desktop users? Another indicator of mobile dominance. The mobile Facebook app is easy to use and addictive. While it takes 5 minutes to check your Facebook on a desktop, it takes only moments on a mobile device. This concept extends to games, movie reviews, maps, and dozens of other apps. The mobile app industry will continue to boom because of convenience. Compare a mobile phone to a local 711. A quick visit to 711 for bread may be more expensive but much more convenient than a trip to a supermarket. Mobile devices also provide convenience for the user. Whether it be SportsCenter, Netflix, Flixster, or Google Maps, apps bring convenience and users are willing to pay for it. As long as this continues to be true, the mobile app industry will flourish.

Consider being smart

http://www.boston.com/businessupdates/2013/01/25/strategy-analytics-global-smartphone-shipments-hit-record-units/40TiB9eH9t32WX89tn2BKO/story.html

When Jan Newman came and spoke to our class, he had one very serious, specific piece of advice that just grabbed me. He held up his mobile phone and said,  "If you want to make money in the industry, get into the smart phone business." When an experienced and very successful professional in the industry opens up and shares something from his jar of secrets, it is wise to pay attention. With the amount of growth that smart phones experienced in 2012, we can conclude that the industry is not going anywhere soon. Smart phones provide both development opportunities for professionals already in the field and entry level opportunities for recent graduates hoping to get their foot in the door. With the success of the smart phone industry, I am seriously considering starting my career in this direction. For all CS and other recent technical graduates, I strongly recommend considering this industry as a starting point for a career.    

It's about education people

Up to this point in my life, I have not received direct teaching or guidance on "how technology became what it now is" or "how to appreciate and use technology properly." Frankly, it's not my fault if I don't understand the disadvantages of technology. Technology achieves mythic status because it is not understood. Growing up, I observed that birds fly, the wind blows, cars drive, and computers play games. That was all that I knew of these things. To understand how a bird flies, it would be necessary that I study the biology and evolution of the animal. To understand why the wind blows, it would be necessary that I study the laws of nature. To understand how a car drives, it would be  necessary that I study the history and evolution of the auto-mobile. And in the same way, to understand why computers play games and are capable of so many other powerful operations, it would be necessary that I study the history and evolution of computers. Education would be key. There is a lack of teaching and education regarding technology in society that leaves a hazy understanding.