Physical Reality

In 2009, Elder Bednar gave a great CES devotional talk about the importance of our physical bodies. He warned that Satan will try to minimize the importance of our bodies or influence us to neglect them. Elder Bednar further explained that while high-fidelity virtual realities can be used for many wonderful and important purposes (such as simulating realistic temple construction) they can also lead to personal stunting of spiritual growth when improperly indulged in.

I feel that those working in the field of computer science are particularly susceptible to neglecting physical experiences simply because they are so often working long hours on a computer. I appreciated the two guiding questions that Elder Bednar offered in relation to media and technology. I hope to ask myself these questions in my own life, and encourage others to do so as well:

1. Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life?

2. Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?

 

 

This is a vlog about the pain and frustration that results from faulty keyboard stands.

Oops... just realized this video was about a minute longer than it should be. Well, feel free to only watch the first minute.
 
p.s. In case you didn't catch my position. Near the conclusion of the video I stated 3 possible solutions to keyboard problems:
- Raise awareness and stop keyboard abuse
- Persuade keyboard manufacturers to build more durable keyboards
- Take individual responsibility by carrying a portable elevating device in cases of emergency

The Innovator's Dilemma (Book Inspired Post)

Clayton L. Christensen wrote an intriguing book discussing why well-managed, customer-sensitive, highly-successful companies fail. He proposed a somewhat counter-intuitive explanation for such failure. He postulated that successful companies are often so focused on what their customers are requesting that the companies limit themselves to mainstream in-demand products. Meanwhile, smaller businesses develop products that may not immediately have as high of demand or profit margin, but which have more potential for growth. Eventually these smaller companies out-perform and stunt the larger, previously successful companies.

Such a cycle may be inevitable in business, but perhaps a possible prevention for such failure is to invest in novel ideas; ideas that may not be very popular or considered to be especially lucrative at the time. It appears that pursuing only those things which are safest, most-widely accepted, and in popular-demand may cause one to miss greater opportunities that arise from creative, diverse, and even risky decisions.
       

Eternal Ripples - Smallish Post (3/12/12)

The most recent reading assignments for CS 404 dealt with how computers and technology are assisting the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS in fulfilling it's divine mission.  This assistance includes increased organization/accuracy in temple work, quick language translation for church materials, and widespread sharing of gospel truths through social media.

 A phrase by Pres. Uchtdorf found at the conclusion of this article caught my attention. It read: "Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someone’s life for eternity."

I've often thought about how small choices can set events in motion that have significant impacts on the future. Just something to ponder about.

Current Event (2/14/2012)

Is Jimmer Fredette Turning Things Around? Fan’s Take 

 

So far, the college basketball sensation, Jimmer Fredette, has had a pretty average Rookie season in the NBA. Perhaps in part due to his limited playing time, or his teams offensive style, Fredette has only been averaging about 8.6 points a game. He also has not achieved fantastic shooting percentage this season. However the article referenced above talked about how Jimmer may finally be becoming the player his fans expected him to become. In the last 5 games he has been averaging 14.2 points a game, and has made 15 three pointers. I always believed Jimmer would be successful as a pro, and prove those doubters wrong -- Go Jimmer!

Family History - Smallish Blog Post 2/9/12

The articles we were encouraged to read for class today focused on family history, and how technological advances have accelerated and improved family history research.

• Haight, "Linking the Family of Man" (Ensign, May 1991)
• Nelson, "A New Harvest Time" (Ensign, May 1998)
• Mann and Zautcke, "Family History via the Internet" (Ensign, July 2000)
• Olaveson, "Updated FamilySearch.org to Bring New Features Under One Roof" (Church News, July 16, 2010)
• Packard, "Future of FamilySearch.org Explained at Seminar" (Ensign, December 2010)

It's pretty incredible how the miracle of computer software is assisting in the Lord's work to extend the blessings of salvation to all of His children. Due to easy access and superior organizational tools, genealogical records are quickly expanding and becoming more accurate. I love the temple and the blessings that can be found there, and I'm thankful to live at this time where I have the privilege of extending those blessings to those who have already passed on. Perhaps with the skills that I've learned in the Computer Science program at BYU, I can somehow make a small contribution in this area that will further improve the wonderful work that is taking place.

Smallish Post 1/24/2012: My CS404 reading assignments today were these two articles:

• "Five things we need to Know About Technological Change"
• Oaks, "Focus and Priorities"

I thoroughly enjoyed reading both of these articles.

I felt that the article on 5 things we should know about technological change was intellectually stimulating and presented some interesting ideas, even if I didn't agree all of the author's comments. It persuaded me to contemplate the vast impact technology has on the world's social/cultural evolution. I agree with the author that technology is a powerful tool that can be used for both good and evil; however, I disagree with the comment that "technology is not part of God's plan". It's true that technology has made evil material more invasive and easily accessible, but it has also provided a powerful means whereby gospel principles and truth can be shared throughout the world with a speed and effectiveness that has never been known in past dispensations. I feel that this is part of Heavenly Father's way of preparing the earth for His Son's Second Coming.

The article by Elder Oakes was very spiritually inspiring. He discussed how the wise application of knowledge is much more valuable than a vast library of information left unapplied. This reminds me of some of the things that I'm currently studying in Bioinformatics. DNA sequencing technology has accelerated so quickly that we have unbelievable amounts of genomic data collected from thousands of organisms, but are in desperate need of additional algorithms to analyze and extract valuable information from this vast amount of data. Elder Oakes also made the point that due to the modern conveniences of technology people in general have much more leisure time, and we will be held accountable for what we do with the time and resources we have been blessed with. Reading this gave me a desire to spend my time and talents more wisely.

I'm starting this blog because I'm required to for my CS404 (Computers & Ethics) class.