justaboutnormal

Letter From My Alma Mater

2010-09-01T21:15:00.000-06:00

I got an interesting letter in my email today:

Dear Mahonri,

Students receiving federal financial aid at BYU-Idaho must meet the requirements contained in the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policy. An evaluation of your academic performance indicates that you have not met our progress standards. As long as your status is ineligible, you will not receive federal financial aid.

The reason for your ineligibility is:

* You have earned a Bachelor Degree.

If you have unusual or extenuating circumstances, you have the right to request an appeal for a temporary exemption to this policy. The appeal process is described in our SAP policy. If you would like to petition, click here for the form. Please contact us if you have questions about this policy or the appeal process.

BYU-I Student Financial Aid Office

Maybe it's just me, but this letter seems to be a little unnecessary.

Sorry guys, I give in.

2010-08-27T17:01:00.000-06:00

There are going to be a lot of people who are disappointed in me. Probably all 7 people who read this will cry foul or—if they're in a tastier mood—fowl.

I had to enable comment moderation.

I didn't want to inflict the scrwery wrdos on everyone, but I had no choice.

I am assumed.

Perpetual Questions

2010-07-23T20:00:00.003-06:00

Right now I'm at my graduation convocation and, as I march toward the platform to be presented with a folder to hold a piece of paper that says I have answers, I have to admit I still have questions.

Why do I have to wear clothes under this dress?
Why is this dress black and not navy blue like my school colors?
Why am I wearing a dress at all? I’m a man!

If you can answer these questions, then I will be ready for another piece of paper that says I really do know everything.

A Mouse Eating a Piece of String

2010-07-10T22:14:00.004-06:00

Once there was a mouse eating a piece of string. The string was yellow, and was probably more appropriately called yarn, but the mouse was colorblind—why was the mouse colorblind? No one knows, but the fact that all mice are colorblind probably had something to do with it—but the mouse ate the yellow string that was really yarn and wasn't any the wiser.

After the mouse ate the string confidence began to brew, whiskers stiffened, and neurons percolated (which would actually not be a good thing to happen to a mouse's brain—or anyones' brain, but that's beside the point). The mouse, emboldened with the yellow string that was really yarn now safely settled in his stomach, did the smartest thing a mouse that just ate a yellow piece of string that was really yarn could do; he took a nap.

Upon wakening the mouse noticed something, he was still color blind!

The mouse immediately took another nap.

And the mouse dreamed.

The mouse dreamed of another world. A world where yellow string that was really yarn was plentiful in every mouse home. A place where a mouse could eat his fill of yellow string that is really yarn. A place where a mouse could learn!

He awoke with this on his mind and decided to change the world.

He started by nibbling a block of wood into a full-sized statue of Abraham Lincoln. After he was done with that, he would darn socks out of yellow string—not because he wanted to use yellow string, he mostly wanted an excuse to say he was darning something. Because darning things is fun to do, fun to do, fun to do. Darning things is fun to do, early in the morning—he had some left over string when he was done darning.

The mouse decided to knit a scarf for Ol' Abe. He ran out of yarn so he just put a scrap of knitted yellow string on Ol' Abe's shoulder.

After that, he was in the mood for some butter.

The End.

Hairspray: Promoting the Decomposition of O3

2010-06-17T21:27:00.001-06:00

Watched the movie Hairspray, here are my thoughts.

Despite the fact that this movie has single handedly destroyed at least half of the ozone layer it had a great message. While this film would be officially considered a musical, I’d like to submit the genre “dancical” as equally appropriate. There was a severe amount of singing and of dancing, which reaffirm my maxim that life should be a musical—er—dancical. Life, however, will never be so bright; while I don’t hesitate to sing and dance at the smallest whim or provocation, I do not foresee ever having a trio of backup singers. Alas, I will survive, not because I can, but because I must. And who knows, perhaps one day, I’ll either be rich enough to buy a set of backup singers or smart enough to con my kids to do it. A man can dream.

2012: Good Movie, Bad Move

2010-05-29T21:46:00.001-06:00

Okay, I get the whole 2012 the world is going to end thing (even though that is NOT what the Mayan calendar says at all, hint, it's supposed to start over, not end entirely). The movie was pretty good, I enjoyed it. It was pretty clean and there wasn't a ton of swearing, but I hope that our government leaders aren't as stupid as the ones in the movie.

Heres the story: (If you don't want me to ruin the movie, stop reading.)
They find out in the beginning of the movie that the world is going to end, well not the world exactly, but because of catastrophes that are bound to happen, the human race will pretty much be annihilated. Irreversibly. (That should go without saying, but I wanted the chance to say irreversibly.)

The first people to find out about this go directly to the government, because everyone knows they always have a plan. What does the government do? They keep it a secret and start working on a way to save "as many as possible." The only thing is, they only saved a very small number in the end and if the world really were to undergo such an event, there is a better way—pretty much the opposite of what they did—but it was a movie and if they had followed my plan the movie probably would have been as good as it was.

But that doesn't change the fact that it was a bad plan. What should they have done? It's easy. If the government keeps it a secret then the only people that can help save the human population are the people you tell and the people you hire, but what happens when you tell everyone? Well, then everyone can help save the world.

Tell me the truth, if the president of the United States broadcasted that the Earth as we know it was going to be annihilated don't you think you'd be willing to do a little work on an ark or something that would save your life? Lets face it, there are a lot of jobs that are completely pointless when you realize that the world is about to end, those people would quit their jobs and help build big boats. A lot of people would be able to keep their jobs and assit in other ways. And most, if not all, of the human race can be saved.

Gee, I hope that they haven't already discovered that the world is going to end and have already started to do the wrong thing...

tuesdayDeveloper; Update

2010-04-23T10:00:00.014-06:00

I was looking around and I made a realization: I really neglect this blog!

My pathetic blogging practices are not what this post is about. I'm writing to notify any interested parties that I'm starting a new feature on tuesdayDeveloper; as of today—er—yesterday. Some of you might even be interested in it. That's right, while I am still going to post on how to do various things in programming, I'm also going to write opinions about the tech world. Want to know my thoughts on the iPad? What are my thoughts on Apple's iron fist App Store policies? Coming soon: Should you buy a Mac or PC?

Anyway, if you're at all, remotely, sorta, almost, or vaguely interested in the vast world of technology and you're willing to read my ramblings about a small-and-seemingly-insignificant-but-actually-quite-fascinating part of that vast world, stop on by!

P.S. I don't write about fish on tuesdayDeveloper; sorry.

I Support Health Care Reform

2010-03-20T07:30:00.005-06:00

This morning I got a forwarded email from a very important person to me. The letter was from our Idaho senator (Mike Crapo) and can be read beneath this post highlighted in grey. This is my response to the letter:

I've been following health care reform for some time for obvious reasons. The health care bill that is in the house and senate are not bad bills. They have a bad rap, mostly because people have misunderstood it or have skewed the truth. The things on Senator Crapo's list are not enough and the democrat's plan covers them all. Some of the things on Senator Crapo's list are bad. (e.g. if you sell health care across state lines then every insurance company in the nation will go to the state with the most relaxed rules and we would all get poor coverage). The only way to reform health care is with a national plan, much like the bill they have in congres now.

Obama's plan is supposed to reduce costs and national debt, not increase it. The plan reallocates tax funds in order to make things more efficient than they currently are. In addition to altering the national budget, the current exorbitant health care fees will be better managed and controlled (if you don't understand the need for this, I'll show you one of Cindy's medical bills). Which brings me to my next point, we need health care now. We cannot wait for the republicans and the democrats to agree on every point or it will never get done, but it is vitally important for it to happen soon.

There are many myths about health care reform. Among these are the following:

It will rase the national debt.
It is true that national health care will cost money, however, the current plan will reallocate funds to cover costs and has excise taxes built into the law to keep the debt from increasing. While these excise taxes are contingent on future lawmakers, if passed the national annual debt will decrease, not increase.
Health care will be rationed.
Anyone who uses the current health care for more than annual checkups will know that health care is already rationed—if you can't afford health care, you don't get it. People with pre-existing conditions regularly go into bankruptcy because they cannot afford their medical bills. When they can no longer afford their bills, they can no longer get the care they need. If anything, there will be less rationing.
Health care reform will kill off our old people
I have no idea how the "death panel" myth ever got started. The health care bills says nothing of the sort. There will be "end of life counseling" which is a good thing. It would mean that people will get the counseling they need for things like advanced directives (should they keep you alive with machines even though your brain is inactive?) and legal wills etc.

It is important to realize that every developed nation in the world has nationalized health care except the United States. Most countries and most people feel it is a good thing according to polls, etc. (obviously, or you wouldn't see such a trend). We should not be fighting good things, we should be supporting health care.

I realize that you may feel that I have strong feelings on this because of Cindy's health. You're right. I do. I honestly feel that this is a good bill and I don't understand why we don't already have something like it in our country. Because of these strong feelings I have, I've been watching the health care debate very closely and I've done a lot of research. I'll admit that I haven't read the entire bill, but I've read a lot of opinions on the bill (good and bad) and the most informed opinions were in favor of reform.

I support health care reform.

The letter received from my contact:

Dear ***,
I am contacting you to ask for your help in stopping the health care reform bill that Congress is considering.

The House of Representatives is planning to vote on the bill this Sunday. The Democrat Leadership in the House will use highly unusual Congressional maneuvers to pass the same bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve last year.Please join me in asking members of Congress to oppose this deeply flawed bill. Many in the media are criticizing Republicans for not having ideas for meaningful health care reform. This criticism is simply inaccurate. Republicans have many ideas for reform that will reduce costs, increase access and not place the federal government between a patient and his or her doctor. These reforms include:

Allowing health insurance companies to compete across state lines.
Allowing small businesses to pool together when buying health insurance coverage for their employees, just as large corporations and labor unions do.
Modernizing Medicare and Medicaid to focus on outcomes rather than procedures.
Establishing a system in which health care pricing is made transparent so consumers can compare costs and value.
Expanding and reforming high risk pools and reinsurance programs to guarantee that all Americans, regardless of pre-existing conditions or past illnesses, have access to affordable health care.
Enhancing Health Savings Accounts to allow Americans to save for current and future health care needs and authorizing HSA funds to be used for high deductible health insurance premiums.
Incentivizing the allowance of dependents to be able to remain on their parent's insurance until age 25.

The Congressional Budget Office has determined that these simple reforms would indeed decrease the cost of health care, enroll more Americans into quality health insurance plans and not increase federal spending.
The current health bill is more than 2,000 pages long and is projected to cost at least $940 billion over ten years. Picture this to get an idea of how much $940 billion is: a neat stack of $100 bills, 42 inches tall, equals $1 million. To reach $940 billion, you need a stack of $100 bills that is 583 miles high! That's about the same distance as the drive from Boise, ID to Sacramento, CA!
We simply must not burden our county with that much debt by passing this bill. I, along with my Republican colleagues, are asking that reforms like the ones above be the core of a health care reform bill. However, we need your help.
Now is the time to contact your friends, family and those within your circle of influence and ask that they contact their Senators and Representative. Tell them to vote "no" on this bill and to advocate for health care reform that increases of the power individual, not the federal government. Please contact your friends, family and everyone you know NOW to get engaged on this issue. When the American people speak out, Congress listens. You can contact your Senators and Representative today via email, fax or by phone.

Thank you for your help!
Mike Crapo
U. S. Senator
Idaho

Life Before Google

2010-03-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this, and I had to pass it on (but censored a bit).

Is Google Wave "Complex"

2010-02-21T10:30:00.005-07:00

Google wave is not complex
While I admit there are somethings that are different than email and other such tools, I don't feel that Google Wave is "complex" as is written in this article and others. I think that Google Wave is quite intuitive actually.
It seems easy to me to start a new wave, to add new collaborators, and to add messages to each wave.
I think it is simple to search for a wave, open it and read it. It's not hard to click on a user's icon and limit their access to a wave.
I love the spell and grammer checker in one, why hasn't anyone thought of that before?
I admit that there are several things that Google needs to do to finish Google Wave, but in my minds it is already a valuable tool. Perhaps it is just because I'm in the technology industry and that these things are intuitive to me, but Google Wave doesn't seem hard to me.

If you are on Google wave, go to this wave to reply.

The Road

2010-02-05T09:51:00.003-07:00

I'd like you to imagine a road. This road is as straight as an arrow with not even the slightest curve. Everyone who has ever driven on a straight road knows how easy it is. You don't have to turn the steering wheel at all.

Now I'd like you to imagine a car driving down this road—but driving straight is too boring—in fact, why should the car follow the road at all? The car carves its own path. It first takes a sharp turn in one direction, and then U-turns and crosses the road. When the car is on the other side of the road it U-turns again, and so it continues.

Seems pretty silly, huh?

Well, this is my analogy of politics. It seems that we are constantly going back and forth across a figurative road. The average conglomerate of the American People (the road) have in mind to go straight. When one of our elected officers leads us far in one direction, we elect someone new to steer us back straight, but the new officer doesn't steer us straight, he steers us too far to the other direction. It's a vicious cycle.

I do not wish to say that I have anything against the current administration. In fact, I approve of many of the things that President Obama is trying to do (though not everything). It is frustrating to see, however, the back and forth that goes on in our government. It is important to note that the road is abused by BOTH parties, not just the Democrats, not just the Republicans, both parties. It seems that if the two would cooperate that we would be heading on a more correct course. As it is, it seems that the two sides are bickering in a violant tug-o-war. Each side have their hands firmly on one half of the delicate fabric of the constitution. As the two side pull, the fabric tears and unravels. Soon enough, all that will be left will be a single thread.

VMware Furry

2009-12-16T18:44:00.002-07:00

Q: When is the right time to update your programs?
A: Not during finals week.

I usually try to keep my software up-to-date. Normally when there is an update available I update it at my first available opportunity. Well, VMware Fusion is a program I have for class in order to connect to an Oracle database (academic licence, I'm not gonna pay for it). My Windows VM was configured right and all was well.

I quite liked VMware fusion 3, I really like the unity feature. So when it asked me to update from 3.0.0 to 3.0.1 I was eager to see what was new. I knew it would take a moment out of my study schedule, but I was sure it would only be two or three minutes. Nope! When I ran the installer it restarted VMware Fusion and resumed the Windows VM I had going. It then popped up a notice saying that I needed to use the updated version of VMware (from the "default location" (whatever that means, not the Applications folder, I tried that) to run the VM. I quite VMware and restarted, no good. So I checked the menu and selected to check for updates. It obviously didn't get the message because it said that 3.0.0 was the most current version.

So I decided to go and download the latest version from my account page on VMware.com, where on earth is the download link? I still don't know.

Customer Support? Whatever, you have to pay for each call you make. It wasn't my fault, why should I have to pay.

The solution: (or at least I hope it is the end) I downloaded the trial installer for 3.0.1 and ran it, putting my licence code in when it asked (actually that was one of the nice things the installer did for me). After it installed everything seems to run fine.

Lesson: After a 2-3 minute detour turned into a 47 minute crisis, I will never run updates during finals week again.

tuesdayDeveloper;

2009-12-11T21:18:00.002-07:00

If you've read recently, you'll know that I started a new programming blog. Well, it's been updated. Devin has joined me and we've found a new home for it. We're still planning on the same types of posts, but the new address is tuesdayDeveloper.com.

Google Wave

2009-11-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Anyone interested?

Letter to Cindy

2009-11-26T07:55:00.002-07:00

Dear Cindy,

You have no idea what a strength you are to me. You are so courageous in life it makes me wonder if I deserve you. You have exceeded all expectations—I don't know how you do it—you truly are the greatest.

Cindy, you should be glad that I didn't try to make the pie crust, I probably would have forgotten it in the oven and then we would have Oreo cream pie to offer for Thanksgiving rather than the wonderful pie that you created. Anyway, what's life without a little imperfections here or there? We aren't molded from plastic, we have features that are individual to us, and our food has taste!

I hope I can always be there when you need it. You never need worry to come to me when you are sad. Your loving heart and caring hands have far more weight than any so called inadequacy—you do more than you know. You strengthen me more than I can explain.

The Lord understands your needs and struggles and He will not judge you for them—he gave them to you. He will always look at you with the love and compassion you deserve. He will guide you and bless you and help others to know how to serve you. He may allow your struggles, but he doesn't want them to discourage you or to make you stumble.

Don't forget that you can run circles around most people when it comes to awesomeness! You have so much ability. Maybe you're out of the race for triathlons, but how much does that count? Is the real question what you do with your abilities? You do so much, never forget that. Don't let Satan let you think that you are anything less that a daughter of God. You are supreme.

I for one, am glad I found you. I would be lost without you, and I'm so glad that you realize the importance of providence. I'm glad you know how important it is to know who you are. That you are who you are.

I'm glad you know how to find yourself.

You truly are wonderful! I love you!

Blog tuesdayDeveloper = new Blog();

2009-11-24T00:00:00.005-07:00

Update: Please read the updated post regarding tuesdayDeveloper.com

Since the majority of you are not programmers, you probably won't be interested in my latest blog, tuesdayDeveloper.blogspot.com. I am starting it in order to log solutions to problems I've solved. I plan to write how-tos, hints and tips, and other such helpful things. I want to write these so that I have a reference were I can turn first for solutions I know I've already found. For more information visit the welcome post.

I'm also considering other authors for this new blog; if I know you personally, you program (anything from OS kernels to websites), and you are interested in writing how-tos, hints, tips, or provide general reverences, etc. for tuesdayDeveloper let me know.

I hope some of you find this useful. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Sunshine by Cindy

2009-11-22T21:56:00.006-07:00

Hey all two of you: You might know that my wife loves to make stuff, crafty stuff. She has determined that she can't make all the things that she wants to, so she started an Etsy shop (which I had no idea what it was, but she is selling homemade hair clips and hats) as a way to make whatever here little heart desires and to share the love.

The link to her shop is sunshinebycindy.etsy.com and you ought to check it out. You can also enter a giveaway for free hair clips if you follow this instructions on this post on her blog*. I hope everyone likes what she's made, I think it's pretty cool, but I refuse to wear it since it is against my standards... mostly because of my gender. Anyway, enjoy.

*Disclaimer: This is not an entry in her contest, as her husband I am adding a contest rule that members of family who live with Cindy cannot enter the contest—since I wouldn't know what to do with a hair clip and I would only give it to Cindy so it would be a bit redundant.

Wohoo

2009-11-20T20:45:00.005-07:00

It's Thanksgiving break!!! Lets celebrate by writing a little story.

There once was a man named Telvenious. To all those who watched him, Telvenious was a rather cool guy. He was very talented and great to talk to, but there was one thing that no one knew about Telvenious—he could not swim. He was a bit self conscious about this and he was sure that other made fun of him behind his back, but no one knew, and really everyone thought that Telvenious was rather swell.

Nothing in the world was more devastating to Telvenious than his lack of this ability. He would walk to the lake and watch swimmers and long to join them. When he longed to join them he thought, what an odd phrase 'long to do something'. He also had more regular thoughts, what would it be like to swim? Is swimming like flying? What would it be like to play with those really cool pool noodles?

One day, Dallenaria, a maiden of long locks of golden hair, happened upon Telvenious on her way to the pool. Now, Dallenaria was in no state to be seen—she wasn't wearing proper footwear—so she hid in the bushes and watched Telvenious. It was at this time that Telvenious pulled out his lunch, a pickle, some orange juice, and one red gummy bear. This was his favorite snack and when he pulled it out of the bag he had such a look in his eye Dallenaria longed to be that pickle, that orange juice, and that gummy bear so that she could have someone look at her the way Telvenious looked at his meal. Dallenaria sighed.

"What? Who's there?" Telvenious asked.

It was custom to answer all questions posed to an individual in this realm, the people would never think of keeping silent, so Dallenaria spoke up and said, "It is I, Dallenaria."

"What were you doing?"

"Watching you eat your pickle, wishing I was your pickle."

"You wish you were my pickle, huh? Well, I happen to have a genie's lamp in my bag as well, would you like me to ask you to transform you?"

"Well," Dallenaria thought, "would you look at me the way you looked at that pickle?"

"Most certainly," answered Telvenious.

"Well then, lets do it." And with a swipe of Telvenious' hand against the lamp, Dellenaria was turned into a pickle. it was then that Telvenious heard a strange noise in the bushes.

"Who's there?"

"It is I, Mr. Pickle." When Telvenious only looked at him with astonishment, he continued, "when you turned the girl into the pickle, I was turned into a human."

"Why?" asked Telvenious.

"Why? Well, haven't you ever heard of conservation of energy?"

"Well, yeah, but, what does that have to do with anything?"

Mr. Pickle sighed, "When you turn something into something else, the thing that you turned that thing into has to be turned into the thing that did the changing."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah! Say, why did you turn the girl into a pickle anyway?"

"Oh, she said that she wanted me to look at her like I looked at you."

The pickle was obviously disturbed by this, "Did you ever thing that maybe she just wanted a boyfriend?"

Telvenious had never thought about this, "she wouldn't want me to be her boyfriend, she just wanted me to ..."

"Look at her like you looked at me when I was a pickle," Mr. Pickle finished his sentence. "Now let's get one thing clear. When a girl tells you that, you don't just go turn her into a pickle, you've got to ask her to be in a relationship (assuming you've known her for a while anyway)."

"Oh," Telvenious thought, "well, maybe I should turn you back into a pickle, eat you, and then ask Dellenaria to be my girlfriend. We have been good friends for ages."

"A briny idea," Mr. Pickle said as his last words as he turned back into a pickle.

"Whoa!!! That was really cool," Dellenaria said.

"What?"

"Well, when I was a pickle I got a great tip that on this blog there is going to be a post on Tuesday that some of us will want to be sure to read."

"Well then," Telvenious said, "it's settled, you and I will start dating and on Tuesday we'll tune back in to read this blog again."

And the lived happily ever after.

Do you have swine flu?

2009-11-05T07:47:00.005-07:00

Have a pretty bad cough? Think you may have the swine flu? If so, there is a very easy way to determine if you have the swine flu or if you have the regular flu this season. To determine if you have swine flu or the regular flu you must listen carefully to your cough. Watch the video to hear the difference in the regular cough and the swine flu cough.

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This video is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease

Mmmm

2009-09-16T20:43:00.001-06:00

. . . my wife makes good pie!

Enough said.

Finally!

2009-09-04T11:05:00.010-06:00

*Photo Credit washingtonpost.com

From the moment Google announced that they would be offering a mobile OS, Android, I've been waiting for it to come to Sprint. As of right now the only Android based handset in the US is on T-mobile—don't want to switch—but this will soon change.

Now this doesn't mean that I'll switch right away, I can't really. But I plan on it when I can.

Now, I know that some of you realize the value of having a phone that is connected to the internet, but for those of you who are skeptical let me give you my reasons for why it is so great to have this functionality.

Besides the obvious automatic backup of data, the internet-connected smart phone is worth more than just internet browsing (nice but hardly a killer app). The real value is in the apps that sync with the internet. Let me give you an example:

With my current phone, I have a ledger that helps me track the amount we have in our bank account and other financial accounts. So long as I don't forget to add an entry, it stays up-to-date. It's a great reference when I have my phone—but if I've got my phone with me my wife can't reference it at all. This is the real value of internet-connected phones. If I had and app that kept my ledger like now, and uploaded the information to a secure account online, then Cindy could view it at her whim. Even better would be if she had a smart phone of her own and could link it with the same ledger, then, even on the go, she would be as up-to-date as I am.

You can see the value of this with other applications for work, home, and other uses I'm sure. But, alas, it is pricey and until we are no longer college students (and probably longer) or the price comes down a lot then we will be waiting.

Bing.com vs Microsoft

2009-09-02T08:04:00.005-06:00

So I was reading the daily Dilbert strip this morning when I saw this ad.

This ad made me laugh, I realize that bing.com is Microsoft's new search engine, but this ad really makes it look like bing.com is a laptop manufacturer and they are comparing their new bright shinny laptop with an old, shattered, broken down Microsoft PC.

I realize that Microsoft is trying advertise the fact that you can compare multiple laptops on bing.com, but to me it looks like bing.com and Microsoft are two different companies and that bing.com is using some negative advertising against Microsoft. They shouldn't have put the two logos in separate corners, that's what makes them look like their competing.

What does it look like to you?

DO NOT REPLY

2009-09-01T17:25:00.002-06:00

We all get them from online merchants and services, social networking sites, blogs, email lists, and news feeds, even local senators, the list goes on: the NO_REPLY@somewhere.com.

For most of my email existence, I haven't given it much thought. I think I did ask myself why companies did that at first, but I've grown to accept it. But today, after receiving an email from a do not reply email address from a company I think has otherwise great customer service, I asked myself what the purpose of the practice was.

I think that most companies do it so that they control the flow of communication—but shouldn't they try to help customers out in anyway possible? Why force the customer to go through the extra steps of filling out yet another form to contact, or re-contact, a company. Why not just allow them to click the reply button, they wouldn't have to put in their case IDs (because they're already there) or re-describe the issue and what's been done (the email has achieved all that info).

Now I'm sure that there are some good reasons for it, though at the moment I can't think of any, but I'm beginning to wonder if it is a good business practice.

What do you think? (Please reply.)

Multi-touch on my ... Dell?

2009-08-31T15:11:00.005-06:00

At the moment, my Mac is being shipped to the repair shop because the DVD drive is faulty. I'm quite glad I have a backup on these occasions—a backup that still works quite well I might add. True it doesn't meet the requirements of my major and has a few problems, but for basic computing I still have my trusty Dell 700m with Ubuntu 9.04 installed.

It was while I was searching something on the web when I noticed it. Coming from my now more familiar Mac, I went to scroll with two fingers like I've gotten used to. I realized that I'd made the mistake but it still worked! What? Yes, the two finger scrolling works on my Dell's touch pad. I'm guessing that the open source driver has been updated since I was on this machine last and now it accepts two fingers and one very fat finger (since as far as I know there is no way for this touch pad to in individually identify separate fingers like the Mac touch pad) I'm guessing that when it detects this very fat finger that it says, hey, I'm receiving vff (or at least ftn fatter than normal) input, I'll scroll now.

My fingers do need to be in just the right angle, or it won't work, but still, cool. Still I can't wait to have my Mac back.

Google Chrome Needs ...

2009-08-29T16:39:00.006-06:00

I've been playing around with the developer channel updates of Google Chrome for Mac. So far I am quite impressed, it is very very fast, the UI simplifies things, and the combination of the search bar and address bar should have been done years ago. While it is almost ready for the general public, it seems to me that there are still a few glitches, and while I'm sure those glitches will be worked out before Chrome is release to Mac users, there are just a couple things I wish they would do differently.

1. URL Completion
I cannot tell you how much I miss this feature when I'm working in Safari or Chrome. In Firefox and Opera, if you want to go to http://www.hello.com, simply type "hello" and press Cmd + Enter (Ctrl + Enter in Windows). It will complete the URL for you. You can also do the same thing with .net and .org addresses (Shift + Enter and Cmd + Shift + Enter respectively) in Firefox but not in Opera. I realize it takes about .0012 seconds to type ".com" but it really does seem to streamline things.

2. Tab History View
Another Firefox innovation I miss when Chroming is the history view for each tab. There's a little triangle next to the back and forward buttons, when you press it it will show you a list of the history of that tab with a check mark next to where you currently are.
[UPDATE: I just found out that if you press and hold the back or forward button it will give you a similar list, it only shows you the previous or post visits, but it is still quite handy.]

Other than that, I think Chrome may well be on it's way to being my default browser. I will be waiting until there is a Adblock plugin that is regularly supported. adsweep.org had one that was great and is still available, but it is no longer supported. I'm sure there will be another that comes along shortly. I can live without the other addons, but I will not live with ads in my browsing experience after living without them for so long.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

2009-08-20T00:00:00.000-06:00

Today is Cindy's birthday!!!!! Call and wish her happy birthday will you?

I think Chrome for Mac is almost ready

2009-07-27T21:47:00.004-06:00

I've been playing with Google Chrome for Mac since the developer builds were released.

At first it wasn't ready for the general public, there were a few bugs.

Now the only thing I notice missing is some flash capabilities.

Next they need to enable extensions. I'm not about to serf with ads again.

Chrome OS... fail?

2009-07-24T13:49:00.002-06:00

So I keep reading blogs where people say that Google Chrome OS is going to fail big.

In some ways I agree that they will have some disadvantages, but I don't know if I think they'll fail. They have a strong brand, they've already built a lot of the cloud apps they want Chrome OS to run (Gmail and Google docs being the biggest of them, the ones most people use computers for). Google has made it clear that it will be cloud based (and I'm sure they'll be sure to point exactly what that means for those who don't know), etc.

I don't think that it will be marketed to programmers, developers, people in graphics, etc. but most people don't use their computers for that, most people will be happy with what they can get in a cloud terminal, and there's a lot of apps that will run on Chrome OS from the very beginning. How could they fail? Look at all the advantages already:

Email is often web based. Gmail, Yahoo, hotmail, etc.
Google Docs is web based already and Microsoft is coming out with a version of Microsoft Office for the web.
It would even be great in a lot of business environments, a lot of CRM and ERP software runs on the web.
Imagine, for those who want pictures from their computer, a web-based tool to upload photos to Picasa.

Sure, I doubt it will get the market share that Microsoft or Apple have, but I still don't think it will be a failure. What do you think?

Sorry

2009-07-02T14:00:00.003-06:00

So, I was looking at my Google Analytics page and I noticed that Soft Answer Part I and II had been viewed but I noticed that Part III wasn't on the list and when I went to my blog to see why I found that, while it was set to publish last week, it was still set to "scheduled" in the posts que. Anyway, I clicked edit and publish and that seemed to fix the problem. Sorry for the delay, A Soft Answer: Part III is now up.

A Soft Answer: Part III

2009-06-27T14:15:00.008-06:00

The following is the third part to the three-part series, A Soft Answer. I wrote these after spending several months of seeing the benefits of the behavior I am prescribing. I should point out that these thoughts are my opinion, but as I’ve said, I’ve seen a lot of blessings and advantages to behaving this way. I suggest reading each post in the order they were intended. The first and second parts were posted previously. Please start by reading the first part if you haven’t already read it.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

Part III: A Soft Answer.
As previously mentioned, we are reactionary people. When someone says or does something to us, we have in us the desire to retaliate. The Savior exhorted us to love our enemies, bless them that hate us, and pray for those that despitefully use us (Matt 5:44). I think His exhortation comes to us in order to prevent the negative side-effects that come from getting even with others. In reality, those who are the wisest don’t ever get offended. Brigham Young said, “He who takes offense when offense was not intended is a fool, yet he who takes offense when offense is intended is an even greater fool for he has succumbed to the will of his adversary.” This is a powerful quote to anyone who will realize the meaning of it and implement it into their life.

I work as the manager for the apartment complex where I live. Most of the people who live here are courteous and altogether kind, but as you can imagine, sometimes someone will come to me who is angry and upset at some policy that we have—and they often approach me yelling. I've learned time and time again that the best reaction to someone who is confronting you in such a way is to simply answer them in a calm (though firm) way. There is no need to argue back; there is no need to react in any way to egg them on. This may not quell every dispute, but it certainly calms most people down. I can think of several times people have even apologized for their actions. This has lead me to the conclusion that a soft answer is more powerful that a strong answer.

Indeed, anytime I have replied to arguments, insults, or criticism in any area of life with a soft answer, the results have been much better. It shouldn’t surprise us that there is a proverb stating such. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). It’s true. By keeping your tone mild and your volume low, others will see that you aren’t trying to insult them and they will modify their behavior to be more respectful to you.

A soft answer can extend to many areas of life. I opened the first part of this essay with an experience I had regarding a pedestrian who seemed to be glaring at me. I regrettably retaliated with a dirty look of my own. What I should have done was taken an introspective look at myself to see if there was anything I should have been doing but wasn’t. I should not have been offended, I should not have retaliated. I have made the pledge that I will improve, that I will do better to answer confrontation in a more gentle way. I will improve in how I react to circumstances that require patience.

If you have any doubts that the admonitions in this essay are in any way valid, I ask you to try them out. I have seen countless advantages to responding in a gentle way. It will take practice, it will take patience, and there will be times when that patience slips—but I’m sure you will see the benefits, as I have. If you don’t, and this advice doesn’t work to your liking, you can go back–but try to see if you can answer in a way that is less offensive to others. When someone is confrontational, try responding without retaliating. Answer them with a kind voice, a soft answer.

To view other sections of this essay click on the link below.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

A Soft Answer: Part II

2009-06-26T14:15:00.007-06:00

The following is the second part to the three-part series, A Soft Answer. I wrote these after spending several months of seeing the benefits of the behavior I am prescribing. I should point out that these thoughts are my opinion, but as I’ve said, I’ve seen a lot of blessings and advantages to behaving this way. I suggest reading each post in the order they were intended. The first part was posted yesterday and the third part will be posted tomorrow. Please start by reading the first part if you haven’t already read it.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
I'm a firm believer that most people are good, most people are honest, and that most people try to do what's right. This does not mean that people are doing what's right, just that they fell that that their actions are what is overall considered as best (whether by their own classification or another’s). It's true that most of us know that we are not perfect and that we often fail in doing what is best, but that's not the point―the point is that we are trying. When thinking in retrospect we often wish we had acted differently, but in the moment we act as we think we must. I am willing to suggest that there is virtually no one of a sane mind in the world population that willingly disregards what their conscience tells them to do. But, by nature of how our conscience is formed, it can be misleading to its bearer.

When we interact with others this is one of the most important things for us to realize: that everyone is trying to do good. Maybe it's hard to believe, but most people think that their actions are right and good. It is important to realize this because it means that, though we all know people who are making mistakes, it isn't our duty to make them feel bad for choosing the path they've chosen. If we make someone feel guilty for the choices they've made, they may get the message that we are saying that good is bad–when they feel that they have been good and then someone comes and contradicts them, that would be the logical conclusion. Chances are, if they feel strongly that what they did was right, they will resent anyone who tells them otherwise. If we know someone who is making some mistake, the most we should do is help them realize that there is a better way–not just tell them; they need to internalize it. This can be done is several ways, most of which don't involve purposefully putting someone on a guilt trip. The best teachers do not require guilt from the parties they are trying to help.

Earlier I mentioned that if you tell someone that they are wrong, they may resent you. Why does that matter? It matters because you want to help this person and if that person resents you, they won’t be willing to listen to you and then they cannot be helped by you. It is very important to tread lightly, so that those who need your help will continue to talk to you. While there are certainly cases to the contrary, Christ chastens His children. For the most part He chastens gently, but He does chasten them. “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you” (D&C 95:1).

How do we chasten tenderly? The times in my life that I have been deserving of redirection, the most effective exhortations came in the form of a question. Not an offensive question, or one that caused guilt, but a question about the situation. In a calm voice someone may have asked why I acted in a particular way. This approach may not work for everyone the same way, but in general if we ask non-offensive questions, the person will see an error in their way–or react calmly so that we can see the error in our ways. How do we know when it is appropriate to chasten more strongly?

Strong rebuke should be seldom. I won't say that there is never a just reason for strong rebuke, but we should also take into account what it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “[Reprove] betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him [or her] whom thou hast reproved, lest he [or she] esteem thee to be his [or her] enemy” (D&C 121:43). This scriptures tells us three important things. First, it tells us when we should chastise someone “sharply”, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Second, it tells us that we should not end our chastisement with a rebuke, but with “an increase of love”. Lastly, and I would say most importantly, we can infer that we must love those we are trying to help.

To conclude this part of the essay, it is important to remember these points: Everyone is trying to do what is right and so we should take their feelings into account when we chastise or have some defense for ourselves, in the case that they are chastising us. It is also important to show love towards those with whom you differ. In the next section, we will see why feeling offended is not wise, and how to react to those who disagree with you.

To view other sections of this essay click on the link below when they become available.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

A Soft Answer: Part I

2009-06-25T14:15:00.004-06:00

The following is the first part to the three-part series, A Soft Answer. I wrote these after spending several months of seeing the benefits of the behavior I am prescribing. I should point out that these thoughts are my opinion, but as I’ve said, I’ve seen a lot of blessings and advantages to behaving this way. Please start by reading this part, and read the second and third parts in order. The second part will be posted tomorrow, and the third on the next day.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

Part I: The Trend.
The other day I was driving down a hill approaching a crosswalk. At the crosswalk, in the other lane of the road, there was a car stopped for a pedestrian for which I started to slow down. As I slowed, approaching the crosswalk, the person crossing the street had a look on his face of extreme anxiety–or anger, I couldn’t tell which. I wasn’t quite sure why he seemed anxious, was he nervous that I would hit him (I was almost at a stop after all) or was he worried about something unrelated to my car’s approach? I decided after about five seconds that he must indeed be glaring at me. To me this was unacceptable and I proceeded to make a confrontational look on my face towards him as if to ask the question, Why on earth are you staring at me? I knew immediately that I had sinned.

We are reactionary by nature. When someone says or does something we view as insulting we want to retaliate. But, regrettable as is the desire to get even, we want even more, we want to get ahead. We want to get ahead, I think, because we want to prove to those who might cross us that it’s not a good idea to cross us again. We think in our minds, I am not one to be messed with. And so we justify one-upping our opponent, doing something worse to them than what they did to us.

Assuming your opponent is equally as reactionary as you are, the trend will continue, and so a pattern of insults, backbiting, and revenge will likely ensue. Hopefully, at least one of the two parties involved will see the emerging pattern and act quickly to undo the trend and heal any wounds, but you can see the consequences that may happen if they don’t. Feuds between neighbors start, friends become enemies, and if it gets really out of hand, wars between countries may even start.

I hope that anyone reading this realizes that starting such a trend is not a good idea. Many people are not willing to see the logic in an attempt to reverse such trends; they feel that what was done to them is unforgivable or that they have to get payback. What these fail to realize is that revenge isn’t sweet. After they have exacted their revenge and have gotten even with (or ahead of) their enemy, do they become friends again? Not likely. The more likely scenario is that these two people will continue in their animosity towards each other and any friendship that could exist between them will be utterly extinguished. My question for these people is this: Why would anyone choose such a life?

Is there a better way? You’d better believe it. But before we can truly understand what the other way is, and why it is better, we need to understand a couple of principles. First, most people really are trying to do the right thing. And second, there is rarely, if ever, a good reason to be or feel offended. After we understand these two principles, then we can understand what and how we should react in most circumstances. Will we still make mistakes? Yes. Will we still have enemies? Probably. But will we see advantages? You bet! You will receive more respect, have closer relationships, and have more peace in general.

In the next two parts of this essay, I intend to explain these premises, as well as explain what we as people should do to help us with our various relationships. It isn’t always easy, and often seems unnatural, but I promise it is worth it. The next part will deal with the fact that most people feel that what they are doing is right and how we should react when it isn’t.

To view other sections of this essay click on the link below when they are available.

Part I: The Trend.
Part II: Most People are Trying to do What is Right.
Part III: A Soft Answer.

Is your cash safe?

2009-06-05T09:59:00.001-06:00

oran.gs/59

The Future Ultimate Operating System

2009-06-03T20:23:00.003-06:00

I love the debates between OSs and which is the best. I enjoy watching the mac ads, reading about the new Windows 7, and I love testing out different Linux distros. While I certainly have my prejudice about which OS is better than the others I most certainly will not declare any OS at The Ultimate OS. Every OS out there has it's problems as well as its strengths. And that is why I'm am starting a list: The Future Ultimate Operating System Feature List

I don't know all the things it needs (if I did, I'd be marketing it) but I'd like to start a list of what I think are the things this Future Ultimate OS (FUOS) has. I'm going to put a few thoughts down and let you submit your comments as to what YOU would want in an OS.

Headaches 0%
An OS is meant to be a tool, not a frustration. The FUOS will secure itself, protect itself, and it can't require too much maintenance.
Customizable
Every computer user has different needs and preferences. That means that the FUOS has to be as changeable as its different users. Want a global menu, you got it! Want to have a talking dog as your assistant, you got it. (I'll pass on that one.) Want to change the way X happens, you got it!
Organized
Sometimes you just want to find it! As logical as OSs are getting, it is still often less-than-intuitive where to find something.
...

Add what you want in the future OS in the comments.

PS Please don't make this a war about which OS is better. All opinions are welcome, I especially would like peoples views who don't know much about computers.

Work Together to Understand

2009-05-29T09:00:00.002-06:00

Thoughts from Respect and Reverence Margaret S. Lifferth First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency

"Ask yourself these questions: Am I an example of respect in my home by the way I treat those I love the most? What is my demeanor during a sports event? If my child has a disagreement with a teacher, coach, or peer, do I listen to both sides of the issue? Do I show respect for the property of others as well as take care of my own? How do I respond to others with whom I disagree in matters of religion, lifestyle, or politics?"

Everyone has opinions. Every day we see people manifest their opinions in different ways–some do so humbly, others are not so kind. This last week Cindy and I were in Yellowstone Park and we over heard a father exhorting his children to stay on the path. In doing so he used the terms, "boil to death" , and "ignorant liberal"... more than once. His implications in using the later term seemed to be that those with liberal opinions were over protective, he didn't want to be seen as someone who gave so many rules to his children that they could no longer have any fun. All in all, while I agree with the man's decision to admonish safety from his children, I think that could have kept politics out of his admonishment.

How do you react when you disagree with others? This is something I've worked on for a long time. Being opinionated, I like others to hear my thoughts. It wasn't until I was no longer a teenager that I found ways to do so that were more respectful to others. I hope that others are not offended when I share my opinion now. I find it truly powerful to answer people in a respectful way. It seems that rarely when you shout back does anyone listen at all. "A soft answer", therefor, is so much more powerful. (Prov 15:1)

I hope that we can all respect others in their thoughts and view points. I'm working on that day-to-day, but I think it is important that people work together during a disagreement rather than against each other. What does that mean? We work with one another to take each others good points and make them our own, and to forget our own weaker points. We essentially try to understand others better rather than simply assuming that our way is right and no one else has any merit. People would then be more open and receptive to what we have to say and we'd be able to help them more.

Conference Thought for May 29

2009-05-29T08:59:00.000-06:00

I apologize, I neglected to finish my thoughts for this weeks conference thought, I have a post in the making, but I don't want to put it up until I've refined it a bit more. I will have it up by nine o'clock tonight.

A "Decision Engine"???

2009-05-28T14:41:00.005-06:00

Okay, I realize that Microsoft probably isn't marketing to geeks like me, but well, I think some of their recent choices are a little weird...

From what I understand, Microsoft's Live Search wasn't profitable enough for them so they made a few tweaks to it and will be launching "Bing" by June 3rd. I think that they made some great decisions, maybe enough to compete with Google. But I also think they made some–well, rather odd choices.

First onto the things I like...
When a user enters a query in a search engine, they normally don't think about all of the things that may be returned in the query. Lets say I'm looking up information on a solar eclipse. They type 'eclipse'. What most non-programmers don't know is that Eclipse is a pretty popular code editor. So when you type 'eclipse' into Google, the I'm feeling lucky result is eclipse.org a site that is probably only useful if you want to get into Java programming. So you have to refine your search. Google makes this easy enough, just one click, but Bing will take one further and return similar results right on the page. I like that. I don't know how users will react, it may make things a little more difficult to navigate, but I think that overall categorized search results will be a big hit.

Now onto the things I don't like...
Bing? When I first heard that, I thought, Gee, I'd Google myself, but do I really want to 'Bing' myself? On the other hand, I can spell it, that's always nice. I know that names won't change a product but they can sure change the perception of a product. Tell me, what do you think of "Bing"? Now, at this point I should probably point out that I didn't like the name "Google" when I first heard it in high school–now Google is my primary search engine.

Next, Bing is not a "search engine" it's a "decision engine" (read my wife's reaction to that). I don't know what to think about that. Maybe "search engine" isn't quite the right term but "decision engine"? One the other hand I tried for a few minutes to come up with something better and the best thing I came up with was "web content filter", I think that "search engine" is the best, easiest, and most descriptive.

My prediction...
I think that overall, Microsoft still has a hard battle ahead of them. I like a lot of the things they did here, or at least what it looks like they've done (since it hasn't officially launched yet) and I will more than likely check it out, though probably not switch my default search (or decision) engine. I'm actually excited to try it out though. I'm not normally gung-ho about Microsoft (my main OS has been non-Microsoft for about 3 or 4 years now) and I really don't like what I've seen of Windows 7, but still I'm excited to see how well Bing will stack up to other search engines (though I don't know if will, Google's algorithms are very very good). Anyway, go to bing.com for details.

We are Blessed, Smile

2009-05-22T09:00:00.001-06:00

Thoughts form The Power of Covenants Elder D. Todd Christofferson Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We are so blessed in this generation, nevertheless, bad things still happen.

In 1976, the Teton Dam broke* killing 13,000 head of cattle and 11 people. In addition to the lost lives there was hundred of acres of farming land that was unusable.

Since then everything (except the dam itself) has been rebuilt. But as you can imagine, many people who lived in this area were quite unsettled when it happened. They were good people, they worked hard and tried to lead good lives. When the dam broke, President Spencer W. Kimball came to the saints in this area and gave a talk from which I quote. (I tried to find a link to it but wasn't able to, sorry.) He said, "Many of you are wondering why this happened to, why you lost everything you had, I will tell you. The dam broke."

Sometimes bad things just happen. But should that change our attitude?

I love this story found at the beginning of Elder Christofferson's talk. He tells of a woman who lost everything she had in an earthquake in 2007. I love the dialog that she has with an Elder of the church. After a question about her home:

"It's gone," she said simply.

"What about your belongings?" he inquired.

"Everything was buried in the rubble of our home," Sister Conde replied.

"And yet," Elder Nash noted, "you are smiling as we talk."

"Yes," she said, "I have prayed and I am at peace. We have all we need. We have each other, we have our children, we are sealed in the temple, we have this marvelous Church, and we have the Lord. We can build again with the Lord's help."

Isn't that beautiful?

If we can only remember to smile when those things happen I think we'll be better off.

* As a funny side note, if you go to the Rexburg Applebee's you'll see a sign that reads, "Pray for us, we lost out dam water." (Cindy insisted that I tell you about that... Only Mormons would find that funny.)

Just how do computers get viruses anyway?

2009-05-20T18:31:00.006-06:00

I keep running into people who ask me how computer viruses spread. Well, while I'm not an expert, I can tell you a few ways that this happens.

1. You know those emails you get with the cute messages?
Email is one of the most prevalent ways for non-computer savvy people to get malware. I say this because email is one of those applications that non-computer savvy people still love to use. Many times the attachments (power point files, word documents) or the links in them either have viruses or will load them onto your computer. You may be infecting your own computer and others by opening these attachments.

There is a way to check the file you just downloaded, it isn't a 100% sure-fire way to know you're safe, but it's a good thing to check if you really want to open the attachment. It called virustotal.com. What Virus Total does is check an uploaded file against a whole slew of virus detectors and reports the results to you. So you may be safe if you check it against Virus Total, but even if you do check it in Virus Total, you may still be at risk. Why? Well, because not all files need to be opened to be activated–they just need to be downloaded. Now to be clear, normal text based emails are almost always perfectly safe, and attachments are usually only dangerous if you don't know who its from, or (if its a forward) who the original sender was.

2. You mean I shouldn't just download just anything to my computer?
The next biggest way to get viruses for non-computer people is probably to download the virus onto your system in way of a Trojan horse via non-reputable software. (It's called a Trojan horse because it looks like its a program you want on your program, or like a gift you want in your city. The files you load from your email could be considered Trojans too. Just FYI.) A typical scenario is someone looking for some computer program to do x function. Once they find a program that says it will do that, they download it, and install it. Little did they know that by installing this program, which may or may not do what they wanted it to do, it also is a keylogger, or adware, or some other form of malware.

There is a couple things I do to prevent this from happening. First, if it looks suspicious, I don't touch it. Second, I have a handy firefox add-on that aids me in determining if a site is trustworthy. (Anyone who isn't using Firefox, can download it for free, it's faster than Internet Explorer, safer, and more customizable.) The add-on I use is called WOT (Web of Trust). It loads a small green circle next to your location bar and tells you how other people have rated a site's trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy, and child safety. I don't download anything from a site that is orange or red.

I would say these are the two most common ways for someone not so familiar with computer to contract and spread computer viruses. You can also contract a computer virus in a lot of other ways, but if you are sure to follow these two suggestions above, you should be safer.

Run the Race

2009-05-15T09:00:00.002-06:00

Thoughts form The Way of the Disciple President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

If my gospel race were compared to the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, would I be the tortoise or the hare?

Progress in the gospel takes time. "[Becoming a disiple of Christ] is not a quick fix or an overnight cure." It is not a one day thing, we have to make a continued day-by-day effort. Just as there is no other way to the Kingdom of Heaven save through the predefined steps, we cannot make the journey in one day... even if we are running really fast.

meet with academic counselor today ...

2009-05-13T21:25:00.000-06:00

I might graduate after all.

Forever means Forever

2009-05-08T09:00:00.003-06:00

Thoughts from Get On with Our Lives Elder Steven E. Snow

Every once in a while Cindy asks me if I'm really okay with her being sick. Am I okay with her going to the hospital so frequently, what do I think when she has a more-obvious-than-normal coughing fit, am I really okay staying home with her when I could be doing something fun with my family. In reply: yes.

I'll clarify and say that sometimes I'm concerned for her and I hope she's telling me the truth when she says she's okay, but in general I know everything will be alright.

When Cindy and I were first talking about getting married I was warned more than once, from Cindy and others, that a marriage to her would not be normal and that in many ways it would be more difficult than most marriages because of Cindy's CF. (As a side-note, the wonderful spirit and kindness of my wife has made up and exceeded whatever hardships may have come because of her health issues.) I took these warnings seriously, I knew that she was important to me and that I loved her, but could I really take care of her the way she deserved?

In the midst of these talks with one another I fasted like I've never fasted before. I went to the temple seven times in one week. I prayed for guidance, help, and strength. One inspirational thought occurred to me over and over: this life is not the end.

What does that mean? It means that I will be with a CF-free Cindy forever. The problems that exist in this life have very little consequence in the long run—how foolish would I be if I were to let a little thing like CF get in the way of an eternal joy with a remarkable woman?

I don't downplay the challenges that come with CF, but I take them with stride, knowing that if I take care of this wonderful daughter of God that I will be able to live with her forever.

I hope that everyone will "keep an eternal perspective. [And know] that change and challenges are part of God’s plan."

44/100

2009-05-03T20:53:00.007-06:00

I don't like the get-to-know you games you find on Facebook and on blogs, but I found this one intriguing.

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in colored, bold, and/or underlined. How much have you done? It only takes about 5 minutes…Just do it..it's fun!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (if you count high school)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning...
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (What kind of question is that?)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (only one day)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

I Guess it isn't a Myth

2009-05-03T19:48:00.002-06:00

I always heard that for seven years prior to the second coming there would be no rainbows–at least that's what I thought I heard. I was pretty sure that the "quote" was just a Mormon-Myth. I couldn't have been more wrong, Joseph Smith said:

I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the Lord, He gave a sign and said, “In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant.”
But I will take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year, as Father Miller has prophesied, for we have seen the bow… (HC 6:254; March 10, 1844)

The Lord deals with this people as a tender parent with a child, communicating light and intelligence and the knowledge of his ways as they can bear it. The inhabitants of the earth are asleep: they know not the day of their visitation. The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh quickly. (HC 5:402; May 21, 1843)

The Center, the Goal, the Temple

2009-05-01T09:00:00.006-06:00

Thoughts from Honorably Hold a Name and Standing Elder David A. Bednar

When I was on my mission, the mission president told us that our goal was not to get people into the baptismal font but into the temple. Many converts join the church and then soon fall away–this does no good.

It was about this time that Preach my Gospel was introduced. There are four lessons in Preach my Gospel and each one is taught using the spirit as a guide for how they are to be taught. After an investigator become a member they receive these same messages again, preferably with a member of the ward present.

This should be a testament to how strongly the church feels that learning (and more importantly conversion) should continue to take place after we have made the covenant of baptism. It is in the temples that we receive exaltation, not at baptism.

This is not to say that baptism is not important, or even less important. Baptism is the gate by which we enter the Kingdom of God. That clearly identifies it as a significant and vital step in our progression. But we shouldn't stop at the gate. It makes no sense.

If we traveled to a garden and stopped as soon as we entered the gate and didn't move another step what would we see? We wouldn't see anything, we wouldn't enjoy anything but a very small part of the garden. Likewise we must explore the new kingdom we've entered into when we are baptized. And we should continue to discover new things that we've never seen before. An excerpt from Elder Bednar's talk brings up a very good point:

"Elder Dallin H. Oaks has explained that in renewing our baptismal covenants by partaking of the emblems of the sacrament, 'we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. [Rather], we witness that we are willing to do so*. The fact that we only witness to our willingness suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred name upon us in the [ultimate and] most important sense.†' The baptismal covenant clearly contemplates a future event or events and looks forward to the temple." (Emphasis added.)

Everything we do in the church points to the temple.

I hope that we will all put emphasis were it is due and realize how important the temple is. Everything in the church revolves around the temple. The three fold mission of the church points to the temple. Everything that brings us closer to God, brings us closer to the temple.

* D&C 20:77.
† Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1985, 81

He Who is Without Sin

2009-04-24T09:00:00.004-06:00

Thoughts from Come unto Him Elder Neil L. Andersen

I find one line from the newly ordained apostle, Elder Andersen's talk particularly of note. I didn't think much of it when I heard the talk live, or even when I read it the first time, but last night as I was lying in bed, not thinking of anything in particular, I started thinking just how much one of his statements means to me.

He says, "To those who know me, if ever I have been less than I should have been in your presence, I ask for your forgiveness and patience. I so very much need your faith and prayers in my behalf."

I'm trying hard to be a good person, but on that path to becoming a better person, I've made mistakes, several. I hope that anyone who has been offended by something I've done will forgive me. Though I have no great malignant sins I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I think that is a very important point:

No one is perfect.

Who hasn't made a mistake? No one. We know that the only sin-free person to grace this planet was Jesus Christ Himself, no other! Everyone of us has caused another to feel betrayed, shouldn't we remember that when we feel betrayed ourselves?

I remember a wonderful family from my mission–faithful in every way but one–church attendance. A member of the ward they were to attend had been careless and their feelings were hurt. From that point on they have (to my knowledge) never attended church. When sharing spiritual messages with them, we often expressed the need to forgive, for if you "forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matt. 6:14).

I really think that forgiveness is one of the most important things we can do in this life. Obviously it is nice to be forgiven by others, but I really think the most important thing is to forgive others. I think that it is out of the love of the apostle that he expressed the desire to be forgiven–not wholly for himself–but for those who held any malice for him, for the more people who forgive one another, the more people will make it to heaven.

I hope that anyone who reads this will forgive those around them of their wrongs. I hope that anyone whom I've wronged will forgive me, for I am sorry. And I hope that everyone will know that our Father will forgive them of their wrongs.

P@$$wordz

2009-04-23T21:18:00.006-06:00

My first password was for a Juno email account. The password was "candy9". How did I choose this, well, I looked around the room, saw a bowel of candy and thought 'what a great password, candy' but it had to be 6 characters long, so I added a 9 to the end.

Since then my passwords have changed and morphed. Here is how it morphed:
candy9
kandy9
kandieix (Roman numerals, see?)
kand1e1x

Obviously I'm not going to publish my current passwords nor am I going to publish ones that I've used recently but my passwords are not the same and they are not un-complex.

Cindy always asks me why I have a complicated password on my computer. My reply, if my computer gets stolen and I have an easy password to hack, the thief now has access to all of my stored passwords in my browser.

Of course I only store some passwords in the browser. I don't feel comfortable saving my bank passwords in Firefox, heck I don't feel comfortable knowing my bank passwords. That's right, if you asked me what the log in information for my bank was, I couldn't tell ya. It's stored in program I use to generate a random (and as complex as the site will allow) password.

All in all, I have 3 passwords that I remember, one for my computer, one for my password program, and a third that is convenient for me to remember but that is different for each site I visit.

But I don't think that passwords have to be hard to remember!

Just like I could remember kand1e1x (and it was fast to type) I now use the same principles to develop passwords today when I need one. Here is a guide to develop, what I consider a strong password.

First think of a sentence, someone's name (maybe from a book or something), or something that you know you can remember.

We'll say that I am confident that I can remember 'hyper tonic saline' (how did I choose that word, I looked at Cindy's therapy stuff). This is easy to remember and fast to type, but not extremely secure.
So next we will add a number '1' in place of the 'L' because they look similar (and we'll take out the spaces). 'hypertonicsa1ine'. (You can chose to put a '7' in place of the 'T' and a '1' in place of the 'L' if you want 2 numbers in your password. But keep it simple, I'm leaving it with one of the two.)
Next you add a symbol, 'hypertonics@1ine'

That is a great base password. But it isn't a good idea to use the same password for everything because we could run into a dishonest system administrator, so we'll make a rule that will change the password based on the name of the service we are using.

Most of us have a Google account, so I'll make a rule and use them as an example. The rule will be something easy to remember, type the first vowel and the capitol of the last constinent you see in the name. 'oL'.To this you may want to add a number, say the distance to the first vowel (try not to have to do too much counting, but a little is easy for most people). The first vowel is found in the second position, so type a '2'.

Now the password is 'oL2hypertonics@1ine' for Google, and 'aK2hypertonics@1ine' for Facebook and 'aN1hypertonics@1line' for Amazon.

It really isn't hard to make a secure password that is easy to remember but hard to guess. It gets a Fantastic from my password program and a Strong from Google. But the thing is, it is easy to remember.

Do 'M@rryHadALi77leLamb' (Marry had a little lamb) or '$traw8erry' (strawberry) or 'B@rneyF1fe' (Barney Fife).

Okay, rant over.

Links:
How I'd Hack Your Weak Password
Password Size Does Matter

"This might take several minutes."

2009-04-21T20:55:00.004-06:00

Geez... they weren't kidding.Windows (inside a virtual machine) installing SQL Server for one of my classes.

CHECKBOOK --- BALANCED!!!

2009-04-18T12:09:00.007-06:00

The amount on the my register and the amount in the bank were exactly $50 apart!

I was going insane!

I double checked all the amounts – they were accurate.

GAH!!!

I checked the amounts again! All amounts are correct except ending balance.

:-∫

Starting to consider the possibility or a fairy magically depositing $50 into our account.

Consider the possibility of an error in my log – no I checked all the amounts.

Maybe the program's calculator I'm using is broken. Maybe the online bank register is off. No! I had to have put in an amount incorrectly.

Double check amounts again.

Still off – wait a second. That seven looks strangely like a two.

IT IS A TWO!!!

ahhhhh balance

Living up to our own standards

2009-04-17T09:00:00.010-06:00

Thoughts from We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we often focus on things that really aren't that important.

For example, I know that scripture study is very important, nevertheless I can't say how many times that Sunday morning comes and I haven't touched my scriptures since the week before. It isn't that I don't want to study my scriptures, it's that I don't want to study them when I have the time to. When I'm in school I already get up early and I'm busy throughout the day. Of course, I always have a few minutes here and there when I should just sit down and read, but I don't. Scripture study is something that is important to me, but I don't often show that very well.

I think that this is a prime example of what President Uchtdorf has said regarding living up to our standards, I know that scripture study is important, but I'm not always that diligent when it comes to actually cracking them open. We look at examples like Nehemiah who rebuilt Jerusalem amidst a lot of opposition, and a little thing like my scripture study doesn't look like a big deal...
But it is a big deal. Apostasy starts with what seems like small things. Forgetting to pray or to study scriptures, not attending church one week because you don't feel like it, one cigarette, etc. and they grow bigger from there. It's important to nip these things in the bud.

This morning (not in school at the moment) I was pretty proud of myself. I woke up and one of the first things I did after preparing for the day was to open the conference talks online and I read my favorite talk. It was worth it. I am determined to find more time when I can quietly study the scriptures or a conference talk or read a gospel book—maybe when Cindy is doing therapy at night—but whenever it is, I plan to be better.

Conference Thoughts

2009-04-14T14:03:00.005-06:00

If you follow my blog, you know I don't always post a lot. Sometimes I don't post for weeks, sometimes I post several posts in a day. Well, this is about to change.

I was reading my favorite talk from conference this morning and wanted to write down a few thoughts about it. Some of those thoughts don't really seem to be related to the actual topic, never the less I've written them down. I started thinking that I should post some of these ideas on my blog. So, starting this Friday at 9:00 am (mountain time) and continuing each week I am going to post a blog post (long, short, or medium) conveying the thoughts I have from one of the talks from the most recent conference. My goal is to post one each Friday. I'll continue to post other blogs at irregular intervals like normal, but this will be an addition to regular blogging.

I hope to learn from doing this and I hope that people will share their insights with me via comments.

Anyway, stay tuned, Friday 9:00.

Ah, Idaho Weather

2009-04-08T10:20:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was sunny and nice. The temperatures were not too cold, it wasn't windy, and the sun was bright and cheery. After last week, which was cold, windy, and snowy, I'd call this weather great. Indeed, it was jacket weather (though I only wore a T-shirt).

One look this morning, though the temperatures seem to be okay, and you'll wonder who is mad at you and what you did to upset them.

Sorry for the low quality photo, I only have my phone for photos.

ins't it AMAZING?!?!?!?

2009-03-27T22:23:00.004-06:00

Last week I was chewing on a vitamin C—I don't know what flavor, there's four in the bottle but they all taste the same to me—I remember thinking:

If I were to put this vitamin C in my eye I bet it would really hurt!

But then it hit me:

Isn't in so interesting that my body take this vitamin C and knows not to send it to the eyes? (Well, I'm sure some of it makes it to the eyes, but not the whole thing.) When I drink milk my body says, Hey calcium! I need that in the bones. And when I eat a carrot it finds the beta-carotine and sends it to the eyes. I have to say I find this fascinating! What is really amazing is that most of the time we don't eat just one vitamin or mineral at a time, we eat food with lots of vitamins and minerals and the body sorts them all out and sends them to the eyes, the blood, the bones, the feet, the finger nails, or (if it can't be used) to the garbage heap and it gets taken out with the next load.

It's incredible!!!

I'm hungry for points.

2009-03-20T17:04:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone, my Aunt Pam is having a half birthday party tomorrow (yes, half! She is making up for all the birthdays she didn't celebrate by hosting one every 3 months) and we can get points for showing other people one of her three blogs. You have your choice to participate or not, but there are some interesting things on them.

If you're interested photography, go to
http://www.aapixaday.blogspot.com/

If you're interested in gardening, go to
http://www.gardeninglifestyle.blogspot.com/

If you're interested in cooking and recipes, go to
http://www.recipeaweekfoodforalifetime.blogspot.com/

If you could post a comment and let me know which sites you visited I would be most grateful.

Thank you in advance.

Calumny May Defame

2009-03-09T20:59:00.005-06:00

At first I thought it was a hoax, or at least someone grossly misguided, and then I read the churches official standing on the show.

Church's official statement

I think the church is wise in choosing to take no action, make no boycotts, or add any fuel to the fire.

Landing

2009-03-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Right about now I'm stepping off the plane. In a short while I'll be walking towards my beautiful wife and giving her a big hug!

It's good to be in the same state as my wife!

Flight Number Two

2009-03-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

My connecting flight should be taking off now.

Flight 1128 South West.

Flight Number One

2009-03-03T10:30:00.001-07:00

Assuming all flights are on time, I should be in the airplane now and in the air in a few minutes.

Flight number 405 South West.

The journey has begun

2009-03-03T05:05:00.001-07:00

If you are reading this, it means that I have officially begun my trip to North Carolina. I started out the door this morning exceptionally early in order to catch my 5:05 AM shuttle to the SLC airport.

I'll be posting a few updates throughout the day, if you're interested stay posted.

Words cannot say how wonderful my wife is!

2009-03-02T07:13:00.005-07:00

Cindy has been in North Carolina for two weeks now. I get to go there tomorrow, but in the mean time she has been giving me little notes around the house or on email, even a couple on her and my blog. Since today is the last day before I go see her she did something special for me. She made a video with a song that reminds her of me. I can't tell you how much I love it.

P.S. Please ignore any pictures with my extremely white chest.

My wife is so amazing!!! Thank you so much, Cindy.

See how much time we have until I step of the plane in North Carolina?

#13

2009-03-01T18:47:00.003-07:00

Dear Mahon,

Yes, I hacked your blog.

I thought I'd do #13 a little differently. I mean, we've had several days of e-mailed notes now—where's the creativity in that? So for the penultimate message, I am borrowing your account to post #13 . . . on YOUR blog.

I hope you know how completely I love you, and how much I've missed you these past two weeks. I really cannot wait to see you. My favorite part of every day while I've been gone has been our nighttime phone conversations. I love feeling close to you even when you're far away—I love being able to end my day by talking to you. I love that the last thing I hear before I go to sleep is the sound of your voice. I can't express how comforting and wonderful it is to be able to talk to you each night. The only thing that could possibly be better would be to have you in the bed beside me.

I am counting the hours till you fly in on Tuesday night. I love you so much! You are the greatest husband I ever could have imagined.

love,
your wife

My Interests.

2009-02-26T19:32:00.006-07:00

I was thinking today how broad my interest really are. I like a lot of things and this helps me to fit into a lot of different kinds of circles. I'm interesting in so many different things, I decided to make a list of them. These are all the things I could come up with in ten minutes:

my wonderful wife!!!
computers
gadgets
camping
hiking
programing
psychology
philosophy
anthropology
geography
oceanology
zoology
other-ologys
photography
web-programming
finance
government
language
ancient language
animals
art
music
humor
aesthetics
random trivia
fire (every man is interested in fire)
astronomy
the gospel of Jesus Christ
religions
culture
magnets (always have been fascinated by magnets)
card magic
close up magic
stage magic
vision
life stories
ducks
behaviorism (what makes people do things)
places
man's accomplishments
communication
metacommunication
acting
stories
family
how friendships develop
did I mention magnets?
swimming
the beach
how things work
time
eternity
the second coming
affection
man's differing need for affection
technology
Cindy's projects
Cindy's stories
Cindy's writing
did I mention Cindy?

What are you interested in?

One Week Left

2009-02-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since Cindy has left, to babysit for her parents in North Carolina, I've been looking forward to one thing—the day I get to go out to North Carolina and be with her.

I'm proud to announce that in exactly one week from the moment this is posted (assuming no server errors and that the plane lands on time etc.) I will be getting off the plane to see Cindy. I am grateful to Cindy's parents to get me a ticket to NC too to be able to shorten the length of Cindy's absence. And as you may be able to tell, I'm a bit excited.

Facebook

2009-02-24T11:12:00.004-07:00

I was bored today and so I checked my Facebook account. I checked into the story of my old friends and relatives and then, because I was so bored, I checked my own; and then I realized something. I only check Facebook when I'm bored. When I was single it was one of the sites that I checked daily—now I check it on average once every other week.

What is you experience with networking sites?

My wonderful Wife

2009-02-23T17:36:00.003-07:00

As many of you may know Cindy has been in North Carolina since last week. She left last Monday so that she could babysit for her parents while they go to Hawaii. I'm excited to visit there too… next Tuesday. That means that Cindy and I going to be apart for a total two weeks, but do know what my wonderful wife did? She left me a note for everyday that she is gone and hid them through the house. Every morning my phone notifies of where I should look for the next day. I only wish that I had thought of something like this for her.

A great example.

2009-02-23T10:44:00.003-07:00

Example I
Example II
Example III
Example IV
Example V
Example VI
Example VII

These are just a few examples of a wonderful example of this...

MY SITE WAS HACKED!!!

2009-02-18T20:10:00.010-07:00

So I had an interesting experience today…

MY SITE WAS HACKED!!!

HonCo History
I've had HonCo.us now for about 4 years. Lately I've been doing some work on getting my own server working as you read in a recent post (though I've hit a few kinks). However, while main.honco.us is hosted on my server, www.honco.us is still hosted on my brothers server (as is CindyandMahon.com and some of my brothers sites).

Re-securing my site
I'll be honest when I say I don't know much about hacking (I couldn't have done this to someone else's site) but I'm relatively certain that my password was secure. While I'm not entirely convinced that someone cracked my password, I'm not taking any chances and I've changed it. The password in question was the main password I was using 4 years ago. (I normally change my passwords regularly, but this one I would have had to inconvenience my brother and ask him to change it, so I never got around to it.) While I'm pretty sure I don't have any accounts with that same password I won't risk displaying it exactly as it was, but I don't mind showing you an approximation: Eo7u4yN … My passwords have only gotten more secure.

In addition to changing the password, my brother beefed up security and only secure connections can FTP with the server.

Googling the Hacker
While googleing the hacker the first (and only site I found hacked) was my own site. Cindy and I think he must be a "fledgling hacker". The hacker claims to be "LoRdAeRoN". He (or she) also claims to be from the "1923Turk-Grup" And I did find several sites hacked from them.

Answering Life's Questions One at a Time
I know what everyone's wondering: WHY???

Answer: I don't know.

I will be re-posting the correct content by the end of the week.

Hehe

2009-02-16T17:44:00.001-07:00

I'd like a grilled soap sandwich.

Dwight asks

2009-02-12T09:54:00.002-07:00

On Facebook: Dwight says it's 2 days till SINGLE AWARENESS Day!!!!! Had a random thought how did fish acquire a taste for worms?

It all started when the fish wanted to torment worms.
"He he," one fish thought, "I'm bigger than that stupid little worm over there. I bet if I put it in my mouth he would be so scared."
And so, the fish sprinted to the worm and put it in his mouth. The next part of the story is a little weird with a bean stalk and an ogre but I can leave it out ... Read Moreand the story should still make sense.
Anyway, long story short, the fish who was tormenting the worm found him very tasty, he couldn't resist swallowing. When he swallowed he found the worm extremely satisfying.
Now, this isnt' the end of the story. As with any fad, this was considered strange at first. The fish tried to convince his friends that worms tasted so good, but none would listen. He resorted to flattery, trickery, even bullying, but nothing worked. Until one day when he had a little fish of his own. His daughter was naïve and she believed him when he said that worms tasted good.
Shortly thereafter, there was a terrible food shortage and many fish starved. The fish and his naïve daughter tried to convince others to eat worms, they were still quite plentiful.
Many blatantly refused, telling themselves that dirt had all the nutrients they needed. The dirt eaters morphed into plecostomi and other sucker fishes.
Others resorted to a diet fad that had just hit the waters in... Read More the form of a pill called Finfin. The diet pill however backfired and they all became vampires and changed to leaches.
There was one group that resorted to Mormonism, no one knows what happened to them.
But there were a few who were so desperate that they started to eat worms and they really liked it. And now many a fish pallet includes--worms.

I hope this answers your question. As for singles awareness day, good luck.ds

How do I love thee?

2009-02-11T09:11:00.003-07:00

I was perusing lds.org this morning when I found this.

How cool is that? The Church has its own YouTube channel!

I quite enjoyed the 2 ½ minute thought by Elder Holland on "How do I love thee?"

My Miss Bennet (in responce to "My Mr. Darcy")

2009-02-06T10:42:00.004-07:00

This is a reply to my wife's post, My Mr. Darcy.

Cindy,

You take my breth away. Even when I can't spell breath. I am the happiest man alive and it is because of you.

Love,
Mahon

To everyone else:

Cindy is the most amazing person in the world!!! She may not admit it, but it's true. She is so talented, thoughtful, kind-heated, and beautiful. She does all kinds of nice things for me. Sometimes when I need to leave the office for a minute I ask her to watch it for me. When I get back there is often a little note left for me to find. Not only that, when I check the rent box, it's not uncommon that I find a little something inside from her. And if that's not enough, she brings me treats throughout the day.

I love watching movies with her or funny shows like Sports Night. I love playing games like Settler's of Catan and Skip-bo (aka, I love winning said games ;) ).

I've always been blesses with a woman in my life who was a great cook; first my mom and now Cindy. Cindy cooks great meals from soups (Potato or Tortilla), to Poppy Seed Chicken (Mmmmmm), to Chicken Alfredo and Pizza. She has a mean homemade Mac & Cheese. She's also great at making smoothies.

I love taking walks with her and talking about things. And for those who think you can't have Heaven on Earth, I must respectfully disagree.

Cindy is a great inspiration to anyone who meets her, and it is impossible not to fall in love with her, again, and again, and again.

I hope she knows just how wonderful she is.

My computer is ill

2009-01-27T09:15:00.002-07:00

For some reason, the other day when I tried to burn a disc; my computer accepted the disc, waited about ten seconds, and spit it out.

I tried to get several discs working, DVDs and CDs alike, but the result was always the same—rejection.

I really only have one option—to send her in and get her fixed (okay, now my computer sounds like a cat). I should get my computer back in about a week.

I CAN HOST

2009-01-25T21:30:00.006-07:00

As many of you know, I have switched my main computing to a Mac. I love it, I don't regret the decision. But I haven't given up on Linux, what have I been doing? I have been setting up my own web server.

For any of you with questions, all web pages are hosted on a web server. Most places have their web sites hosted in air conditioned warehouses with rows and rows of servers… my web server is in on the floor next to the TV… and it's kinda noisy. But it works!

I've been working off and on (more off than on when I'm in school) on getting it running.

Until now, I've hosted my web page (honco.us currently only used for school projects and dinking around) on my brothers server. Until now I wasn't able to host my own because of firewalls in the complexes I've lived, but that has changed now and I have my own server ready to publish to the world. (Of course I still need to get the FTP set up and actually write something, I have a few projects I'm working on, but still, I'm ready to publish to the world!)

If you want to see the one page I've pubished, go to main.honco.us. It's not much (it took 3 seconds to write) but it's coming from my server to your browser!

If you want to host your own web server, go to ubuntu.com for information on Ubuntu Server Edition. It's lots of fun.

You wouldn't know from the look of this…

2009-01-23T18:39:00.003-07:00

You wouldn't know from the look of this that we lived just across the hall and that my wife visits on occasion.

If I were a wall . . .

2009-01-20T21:01:00.001-07:00

If I were a wall, I would be a wall made of paperclips. We have too many walls made of wood, brick, stone, etc.

I propose a win-win

2009-01-16T09:21:00.009-07:00

This isn't really a technology blog (this really isn't an anything blog) but seeing as how I'm a geek and I have an opinion I might as well share it.

For those of you who don't know, Psystar is a computer company that has been distributing "Mac-Clones" at a significant premium cut from an Apple-branded computer. They do this though the EULA specifically says that Mac OS X may only be installed on an Apple branded machine. Psystar says that Apples EULA isn't valid and so they continue and the two companies have been fighting back and forth for some time now.

I've been following the story pretty closely and until now I haven't really known what I would do to solve this problem. I was on the fence. I really do think that Apple hardware is too expensive; but on the other side, it's worth every penny. I love my Macbook. I really like the touch pad. If another machine (Linux, Windows, or Non-Apple Mac) had a touch pad like this, I would consider a switch (not that I haven't already spent my computer allotment of the century when I purchased this computer).

I have significant experience with Widows, Mac, and Linux; I was originally a Windows user until I got frustrated with it and then I decided that Linux was cooler about 3 or 4 years ago. Now I mainly use Mac. Believe me when I say that there are things I miss from Linux (there aren't so many things I miss from Windows). Yes, I wish that my Mac was more customizable, I also think that programs are easier to install on a Linux machine (. . . sometimes).

This brings me to my proposal. I think that Apple should make a deal with a couple companies that if they will make their hardware to specific specifications that they will be allowed to install Mac OS X. I realize that this would force Apple to program with more hardware in mind, and I realize that one of things in Apple's favor is that they both design the hardware and the software, but I don't think that Mac-clones are going to stop, even if there is sue-age (he he) going on.

I don't assume to know all the answers, but I think that if Apple teams up with other companies (with said specifications in mind) that they will still be able to control the hardware to a degree, while still producing their own hardware.

I really don't think that Apple will go for this, they have their own agenda to follow, and though I think this would benefit them more than hurt them I don't think they will buy into the idea.

Hi Ho Hi Ho . . .

2009-01-05T09:24:00.002-07:00

It's off to work I go.

Today I start my job with Axium Properties, the management company for Cougar Court. Wish me luck.

Hello, I'm back!

2008-12-27T10:31:00.003-07:00

Okay, I realize that I haven't written much (as in not at all) lately and I want to apologize for that. But on the bright side I've been kept cleanly out of trouble—I've been busy with school and work—I saw that my last post was clear back in November, I'm between semesters, and my new job doesn't start until January.

I would tend to believe that I would have more time when I'm out of school, but surprisingly I've been kept busy still. The day of our finals, Cindy and I went to Utah to visit my brother and his wife and to attend their baby's blessing. Anna Beth Baldwin is adorable. Shorty after that, Cindy was admitted into the hospital for a planned visit and a course of antibiotics to help clear out her lungs.

We had our first Christmas in the hospital, the best Christmas ever (complete with pranks on the respiratory staff and lots of decorating).

Cindy is doing very well, and her only ailment now is stir-crazy-itis from being in the hospital so long. Our planned discharge date is Monday the 29th and we are excited to get home (and are praying that the weather will be kind to us).

I hope that everyone out there (assuming anyone is still checking my blog after such a long absence) has had a great holiday and that everything is well.

HE DID WHAT?

2008-11-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Me . . . from the government

2008-11-09T10:00:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday. Normally I don't brag about it (I have this game that Cindy totally plans to ruin for me for the rest of my life where I go as long as I can to see if anyone notices) but I wanted to let everyone know about my way awesome birthday present from the government!

Cue Hallelujah Chorus.*

Why???

Well you see, I found out a while ago that as a CIT major at BYU-Idaho that I'm required to have a more powerful computer than I previously had. Now I didn't just run off and get a new computer, I was lucky enough to have a government grant (provided because I'm a CIT major isn't that COOL?).

I was quite blessed to have the money when I needed it.

*Photo from apple.com.

And the vote goes to . . .

2008-10-28T17:24:00.002-06:00

Elections.

What an interesting time of year. It's the time of year when the next four years are going to be decided and a lot of people are hoping to make the right choice . . . if there is one.

As I hope I've made it distinctly clear, I am not a registered democrat or republican. There are things I like and dislike from each party and so when elections come I make the decision for whom I will vote based on their platform.

There have been some who have told me that this is not a wise course of action, being in a red state I should register with the republican party so I can have some choice of who will be in the general election, but something in my gut tells me it isn't right to say I'm a republican when I'm in the middle.

The main purpose of this post is to inform you of my vote, and to hopefully persuade a few people to my view. I don't really know if it really matters in this election who votes how because, well let's face it, the nation is pretty anti-republican right now. But whether indicating my view has any thing to do with what happens is irrelevant. I hope that everyone reading this will not take offense if you are in opposition to my view and I hope that everyone votes the way they think they should vote and not just the way they think that they have voted for the past 12 elections.

I will be voting for Obama this election. There are a few reasons but the main reason is because I shudder to think what would happen if McCain's health plan went into effect. As most of you know, Cindy, my wife, has a chronic illness known as Cystic Fibrosis. It's a condition that affects the production of mucus, causing it to thicken and block the pancreas and the airways of the lungs. As I hope you can imagine, Cindy's health is quite important to me. Cindy's health is also very expensive.

If McCain's plan went into effect the main problem would be that he plans to cut the tax incentives for corporations (aka future employers) to provide group insurance—Cindy's best hope of a fighting chance to get insurance. Because of her medical conditions and high medical bills, Cindy would be rejected from a private insurance company. Without group insurance the only thing Cindy and I could do is get on one of the state mandated insurance plans (all of which have deductibles in the range from $1,000-5,000 and provide very little coverage). McCain also wishes to cut funding for Medicare and Medicaid. Being students we don't have very good insurance and it is virtually impossible to get good insurance without full-time employment. Medicaid is the only real hope we have to cover Cindy's medical bills; without it, the $35,000 worth of yearly prescriptions alone (none of which are covered by the school insurance) would do us under.

Obama's plan is different; he would attempt to provide better insurance for all, regardless of health status. As I understand it, applicants could not be refused an insurance plan based on preexisting health conditions. It is probably true that this will raise premiums for healthier people, but it would help thousands of chronically ill patients who cannot afford to meet their huge medical bills, all of whom need our help.

I've only mentioned one of the reasons I will be voting for Obama on November 4th, but to me that is the biggest reason. Before I knew of their stands on health insurance I was leaning towards Obama but learning of McCain's health plans has really just tipped the scale the rest of the way for me.

Like I said before, if you feel strongly that you should disregard these thoughts I won't try to stop you. I think that everyone should do what they feel is best. And that is why I will cast my vote for the democrats this year.

Answer to the riddle.

2008-10-19T11:59:00.001-06:00

What is hot when it should be hot and cold when it should be cold except when:
the elves are dancing under the equinox moon,
or
the Irish springs are spewing blue water,
or
electrons move from positive to negative (like they should) and when a = b * h to the 9th,
or
when cheese in a Tillamook factory is aged to a perfect degree of sharpness,
or
anytime it feels like it?

Answer: the water in our apartment. Yes, for whatever reason if you turn on the cold water you'll get HOT water 1 time out of 5 or if you want hot water it gives you cold water (from any of our faucets with a propensity for the bathroom faucet), or sometimes both hot and cold water spew out hot water . . . or cold water . . . we're going to turn in a maintenance request to fix this anomaly.

Riddle

2008-10-18T12:00:00.000-06:00

I may just graduate after all. (Who knew?)

2008-10-17T10:42:00.004-06:00

I'm Going to Graduate (in a year and a half)

The end is in sight! Well, that is if time is visible it is. But if all works out well, I should be able to graduate by Summer 2010, that's only a year and a half.

As many of you know, I took a while to declare my major, and I had no idea what minor I wanted. Well, today I submitted my cluster approval forms. What are clusters? Well, BYU-Idaho feels that students should be able to customize their educational experience. Each student has the option to have a major and a minor or to have a major and two clusters (like mini-minors). What this means is that I will graduate!!! and that I won't go over the 140 credit limit they have here (though I'm going to hit it right on).

Declared Major and Clusters

My declared major is Computer Information Technology (also known as Information Systems) and I plan to be a database administrator. My clusters (pending approval) will be in communications and philosophy. I have a few reasons for choosing these.

Why Communications?

Communications is as valuable as any skill there is in the business world—we need to understand each other—I will need to understand and be understood, I will need to persuade and understand why I should be persuaded, I will need to be able to eloquently speak and write, and each of the classes in this cluster fulfill some part of those requirements.

Why Philosophy?

Whether anyone sees value in philosophy or not, it is among the most valuable disciplines available for study in todays universities. Philosophy helps us to see relevant data, logically and ethically make inferences, and come to appropriate conclusions—philosophy helps us to think!

Yay!

I still have a lot ahead of me. I need to get an internship lined up, I have a lot of pretty hard classes lined up, and my clusters haven't yet been approved, but I'm sure that everything will work out and that I will be rewarded for the hard work I've put into my educational experience.

I have the best wife ever!

2008-10-14T09:35:00.000-06:00

That's all I wanted to say.

I'M HERE!!!

2008-10-12T08:34:00.003-06:00

I'm sure you're all wondering, "Now that Mahon is married, is he just going to let Cindy do his blogging for him?" That seems a valid questions seeing as we've been married for 51 days now and I haven't posted anything since the automatic post on our wedding day. So am I just going to let my wife do my blog posting for me?
A: No. . . . I have too much to say to stop blogging, but that doesn't mean that I don't have too much to do to blog. I've been pretty busy doing homework, working, working on projects, and reading, not to mention my favorite new pastime, hanging out with my wonderful, awesome, and beautiful WIFE!!!. There is just too much to do in a day.
Since I have little to show for my busyness, let me show you one of my projects: HonCo.us is a web site I'm developing for my CIT 235 class. It really doesn't have a defined purpose other than to turn in assignments and to be a project to keep me busy.
Well, I hope this post is seen as good faith that I will continue to write . . . just slowly.

I hope all is well.

The rest of my life

2008-08-22T10:00:00.005-06:00

This post is scheduled to display at 10:00 am on August, 22nd 2008, the date and time our sealing will begin.

Today, just now, I made the most valuable decision of my life, I chose to marry the girl of my dreams and be sealed to her forever. I do not regret my choice nor will I ever take it back. I am the happiest man alive and am so grateful that Cindy made the same choice. We were sealed in the Rexburg Idaho Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We hope you will find your way to our wedding reception in the BYU-Idaho Gardens tonight from six to eight. (Click here for directions.) For more information please visit our website at www.cindyandmahon.com or consult the image below.

TOMORROWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

2008-08-21T10:00:00.004-06:00

YES! That's right! Cindy and I are getting married TOMORROW!!!

We are getting married in the Rexburg Idaho Temple at 10:00 AM!!! THAT'S ONLY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AWAY!!!

If you haven't done so you should check our website for all details (directions & times, registries, our story, etc.)

ONE!!!! WEEK!!!! LEFT!!!!

2008-08-15T10:00:00.005-06:00

I woke up this morning and the first thought I had was, I'M GETTING MARRIED IN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Methinks I'm a bit excited that in a week Cindy and I will be sealed in the Rexburg Temple!!! :D

I am so trilled to be making this step, not only is Cindy wonderful and charming, not only is Cindy smart and caring, not only is Cindy beautiful and gosh darn hot . . . I need a wife.

And so at 10:00 in precisely a week, Cindy and I will be sealed together for all eternity. I understand that some may not understand the term sealed together, allow me to explain:

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as Mormons), we believe that life does not end with death. We know that after we die that life continues on—forever! Not only does life continue but everyone on Earth will be resurrected (they will receive a physical body that is free from illness and incapable of death). Because of this it is vitally important that we make correct decisions now, in mortality.

When all mankind is judged, we won't simply be sent to Heaven or Hell, Paul taught that, "All flesh is not the same flesh . . . There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory." (KJV 1 Corintians 15:39-41)

What does this mean? It means that after this life there is more than two places we can go. Joseph Smith reveled that there are three separate degrees of glory. The Celestial Kingdom is for thous who accepted God's truth on the Earth or who were unable to accept during mortality and will take it upon themselves after this life. The Terrestrial Kingdom is for the good people of the Earth. These people led good lives and did what was honorable but they never accepted Christ, they never made the covenants God requires as administered by one with the proper authority. Those in the Terrestrial Kingdom are great people, just ones who are unwilling to commit to Christ. The third kingdom is the Telestial Kingdom. Here are where they go who lie, cheat, and murder in this life. It is important to know even the people in this kingdom, if they will repent, accept Christ, and be baptized by His authority, are just as eligible for God's kingdom as anyone else—we shouldn't sin, but if we do we can repent (even though that is sometimes very hard).

In addition to there being Three Kindgoms of Glory, there are "three heavens or degrees" in the Celestial Kindgom. Those who are baptized may enter into the Celestial kindgom, but only those who enter into the "everlasting covenant of marriage" will attain the highest degree of glory. Everyone should know that this is available to all, if you marry in this life or are unable to for some reason. It is also important to know that even if we have entered into the covenant of marriage, this does not mean that we are automatically going to the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, we are eligible to enter into it, but if we sin and are unrepentant we will not enter into that kingdom. (For more information see D&C131.)

It is a blessing to know that those who are sealed for time and all eternity in the Temple of the Lord are a married couple forever—families are forever! But we must also know that we must do so by the authority of God, we believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy . . . by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof" (Articles of Faith 1:5). God must bestow his power on those whom He wishes to do his work.

I admit that I don't know everything, but I do know that God loves His children and he wants us to be happy. He has created this plan for our happiness and those who wish to do so can achieve any of the blessings of the Lord, one must simply obey the rules God has set up. (For more information visit www.mormon.org.)

And so Cindy and I will be sealed forever next week in the Rexburg Idaho Temple. We hope that all who wish to will be able to share in our happiness and visit us on our wedding day at the reception.

See the story with your own eyes on the Photo page of our website.

Directions
Story
Registry
Rexburg Temple
More

TWO WEEKS!!!

2008-08-08T10:00:00.004-06:00

Can you believe it??? In TWO weeks Cindy and I will be a married couple!

Need directions and times? We have maps, directions, as well as date and time info on the Directions page of our website.

Uh . . .

2008-08-06T09:23:00.005-06:00

Well, other than automatic posts, I haven't posted a single thing for three weeks. Sorry about that. Let me take a few minutes to let you know what I've been up to.

After a long day of finals, I had a meeting with the owner of Cougar Court, the apartment complex Cindy and I are managing, to better define our duties. We will be opening the Club House (the lounge), keeping the laundry room clean, and cleaning around the complex in general.

The next day I was busy moving to Cougar Court. This may seem simple, and I'm not saying that it was worse than moving everything I own from one house to another, but in addition to moving my stuff I had several boxes of Cindy's I was moving as well as several boxes from a friend of Cindy's that we inherited because we are getting married . . . so I had roughly 3 times as much stuff to pack and that's not all. Because apartment number 1 wasn't vacant when I had to move I had to move all of that stuff to apartment number 2 (up stairs from number 1). I'm glad that I had Chris to help me (with his truck).

The following Monday I set out to North Carolina!!! The Watson family (the family of Cindy's grandparents on her mother's side) was having a family reunion and they invited me. It was a blast. I got to see baby sea turtles (one was two-headed), a Portuguese Man o' war, dolphins, and pelicans diving into the ocean all week, as well as other wildlife. I loved swimming in the nice warm ocean every day and the Watson's were a lot of fun to be with. My favorite part though was being able to see Cindy for just a little longer. She is absolutely amazing and I swear she gets more beautiful everyday.

I returned from North Carolina after a fun-filled week on the 28th of July. I got into the Salt Lake airport very late and so I stayed at my cousin's place over night. I am so lucky that I have such a nice family.

The next morning I drove back to Rexburg and started the process of moving everything—again—down stairs. This time I didn't have any help until the next day and the day after than when I had to have help to get the big stuff, like the bed , couches, and kitchen table. Luckily Sara, Cindy's best friend, helped me in organizing it (mostly the kitchen) in a way that hopefully will make sense to Cindy. She isn't picky or anything, I just want to have her come to a ready kitchen that she she can find stuff in when she wants to. I still have a few things I need to organize, but I'm mostly good on that front.

There have been a few other things that have occupied my time lately too. I am actively looking for a job, one that I can continue working at during the school year and hopefully after that as well. I can't tell you how many resumes I've printed, how many applications I've filled out, how many stores I've gone into to ask for a job . . . I have a couple maybes but nothing for certain and so I am still looking.

In addition to job hunting there have been some this-is-the-last-minute-so-we-better-do-it-now wedding planning going on. We will now officially have food at our reception and luncheon! In addition to planning food, I've been sending out a few last minute invitations, ones that we had an incorrect address etc. By far my favorite part of the wedding preparations was getting my sealing recommend from the bishop and stake presidency. Interestingly enough, I got my recommend signed by my first campus singles-ward bishop who is now the 1st counselor in my stake presidency.

Anyway, though I've had hardly any time to post anything I hope to remain busy, I hope that someone looks at my resume and things, Man, we cannot not hire him! I really need a job, not to mention having so much to do has helped me keep my mind of the distance between Cindy and me (long distance relationships can drive anyone crazy).

I'm trilled to tell you that she is officially on the road and on her way here. I won't see her until the day before the wedding, but the fact that she is getting closer!!! makes me incredibly happy.

Anyway, though I'd love to stay and write, I've got things to do. Oh, I almost for got, just two weeks and two days until the wedding!!!! YAY!!!!

THREE WEEKS!!!

2008-08-01T10:00:00.004-06:00

Can you believe it, three weeks from today Cindy and I are getting married!!!

Want to see the countdown in action? Visit the Counters page on our website.

FOUR WEEKS!!!

2008-07-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

Cindy and I have LESS THAN A MONTH till we get married in four weeks!!!

Want the story? Go to Our Story on our website.

FIVE WEEKS!!!

2008-07-18T10:00:00.001-06:00

I marry the love of my life in exactly 5 weeks.

There's no time like the present to check out our website at www.cindyandmahon.com!

Rasping Berries

2008-07-01T21:09:00.004-06:00

I was maneuvering around my freezer while making myself a delicious chocolate shake when I noticed a frozen bottle of preserves belonging to one of my roommates. "Rasp" was written on the top. I've never looked at the four-letter combination R-A-S-P with favorable delight, but I quickly realized that this frozen bottle must be a bottle of raspberry jam.

Ordinarily I would have thought some complaint to myself about the illogistics of the English language but today I didn't. (Yes, I made up a word and it makes sense so I'm leaving it!)

I wonder why raspberry is spelled like that? I thought to myself. Ordinarily I pronounce it raz-ber-ry. No P. (That's how they pronounce it here too give or take the accent marks.) Everyone I knew pronounced it raz-ber-ry too, at least I was pretty sure, so why is there a P in it?

My little mind set to work to justify the useless P.

---

A long time ago there were three men. No one knows their names for this was a long time ago and the story is all but forgotten. The three men were brothers and they were sent out by their wives to forage for food. It was already getting dark when the men set out, so they didn't want to take long but they couldn't seem to find any food. The walked all through the forest sniffing the bushes, tasting the rocks, and squinting in the night.

The three men had been out much longer than they had wished and they were missing their wives so they decided to turn back empty handed. It was on their trip back that they noticed a bush. It was about two thirds their size and had several canes close together sticking out from the ground. None of them had ever seen this bush or a bush like it before. Upon further investigation they noticed small berries on it, it was too dark to see the color, and it smelled like nothing they had ever smelled before.

They decided that one of them must test it to see if it was edible, the oldest elected himself. He plucked a berry from the plant and drew it closer to his mouth. The others leaned in closer so they could see his reaction. The oldest put the berry on his tongue and closed his mouth and began chewing. At first his expression was unreadable, he glanced from side to side as if he were pondering the taste. A smile formed on his face as he chewed.

The others were eager to hear his reaction and their eyes gleamed with excitement. The oldest swallowed and the moment of truth arrived. He opened his mouth to speak and wheezed out, "What's happening?" Those were his last words, just after he said that he fell to the ground.

The two remaining brother looked at each other then at their older brother then in the direction of home. The took off running towards their homes and their wives.

The next morning at early light, the two brothers, their wives, the wife of the oldest brother, and a few towns people gathered around a berry-less bush. The body of the man who at the berry was nowhere to be found.

The bush remained berry-less for many years. Eventually other similar bushes stared to grow and a few years later the bushes yielded berries once more but all the towns people knew not to go near them. If someone unsuspecting when near the bush or one like it, they would warn them. "Those are rasping berries," they would say. Soon that was shortened to rasp berries and later to raspberries.

One day several years later an old man with a long grey beard dressed in hairy skins hobbled into town. His hands full of raspberries. He knocked on the door of the widow whose husband had eaten the berry. An old woman came to the door and looked at the mans hands with the berries, she looked up at the chest of the man bearing the skins he wore, she then looked up at the eyes of the man. She slapped him in the face!

"What?" the man asked, "They were good!"

---

Go here for more of the story.

I surrender!!!

2008-06-25T19:44:00.005-06:00

Last week my future brother in law Jason went to EFY here at BYU-I and then hung out with us over the weekend . . . I got slaughtered at Risk. (Just in case you're wondering, he did not take it easy on me.)

The Cain Files

2008-06-19T14:17:00.003-06:00

S. W. Cain was on a mission in the southern jungle of an island off the coast of a continent I can't disclose because it's top secret. He had gone there because Air Force One had been hijacked en rout to South . . . the continent. Somehow the hijackers blocked the radar (possibly by flying too low . . . or maybe aliens) and the final location was unknown.

The first day Cain was in the area he met a man in a bar, not a real bar it was kinda a wimpy bar that only served things like tomato juice and pumpkin seeds. The man he met was from some Russian speaking country. Cain couldn't help but wonder why all the criminals seemed to be from Russian speaking countries. He had a ring on his finger with a clear ruby set in gold. The man ordered a drink, pineapple innards with a twist. Cain couldn't help but be repulsed feel repulsed. Pineapple gave him a knot in his stomach ever since he was five and had eaten a large bag of trail mix with dried pineapple.

When Cain returned from the men's room, he found at the bar where he had been sitting a note with a knife stabbed in it. "I was zent to kill you, ze next teim I c you, you will be dead." Cain turned around to find the man was gone. He looked at the bottom of the note, there stood a signature with a smiley face beside it: "Zarkoff". Cain realized that his reaction to pineapples saved his life.

He found a base trafficking drugs near a marsh, a very icky marsh that ruined his favorite pair of spy shoes. He knew they were trafficking drugs because every time they loaded their trucks a man that looked like he was in charge marched out and reminded the drivers that if anyone asked they were to say that there were no drugs in the back. They actually sounded kinda cute with their South . . . continent accents when they practiced, "Tear are no drugz in te beck."

As Cain sneaked into the building without shoes, he stubbed his toe and hollered. Lucky for him there was no one around but a friendly doberman that wouldn't stop licking his face as he reeled on the ground in pain. When Cain finally regained his composure he looked down the road and noticed dust; someone was coming.

He quickly hid in the bushes. He threw a stick to get rid of the dog. Threw the stick again when the dog brought it back. He realized that he couldn't keep playing this game or someone would get suspicious so he threw the stick really far, sure the dog would give up. Sure enough, he found a squirrel to chase instead, just in time.

The SUV was small and dusty, the tires were studded and looked well worn. And then he saw it, he saw it. He could have spotted the ring from a kilometer away, of course since he was an American he had no idea how far that was. One thing he did know, he was in danger. Zarkoff stepped out of the vehicle. It was then that his friend betrayed him. The dog had given up on the squirrel and had come over to Cain for attention. Zarkoff looked up.

Cain quickly took off behind the trees. He knew that if he could get to his boat he could get out of there. He looked through the trees and saw Zarkoff and a half a dozen men through the trees heading strait for him. It was then that Cain got an idea. I slid down on his stomach in the mud and proceeded to roll around. It worked. The men didn't notice him for his camaflouge.

After they were gone, Cain got up and returned to the compound. He took the oprotunity to clime over the wall, behind some bushes, and into the compound.

The compond was smaller than he expected. It was open in the middle with rooms all around him. It was then that he saw him.

The president was rapped and gagged with rags that looked like they'd been used to mop a kitchen floor. He walked into the room.

He unwrapped the president and escorted him out of the compound. The president was frightened at the dog. Cain ignored it.

There was movement through the trees. Cain ducked into the bushes with the president. Cain had forgotten however that his foot prints lead straight towards thouse bushes. Zarkoff saw him. Cain immerged as the president hid. Zarkoff approached.

"I'eve been looking fore you."

"I know."

The fight didn't last long, Cain gave one smooth kick to the sternum and he blew up. Cain realized that he had been running from a band of robots.

The End.

I Want More Than Pizza

2008-06-18T22:23:00.004-06:00

I know what you're thinking: Man I wish Mahon would make another blog that I could read. I wish that he posted a great new recipe every week on Thursday at noon. Gosh, if only I was as handsome as Mahon . . .

Well, today your dreams are coming true (well except for the handsome part . . . sorry). I started a recipe blog I Want More Than Pizza found at iwantmorethanpizza.blogspot.com and I plan to update it once a week starting tomorrow.

Hope to see you there.

Adding to the Conversation

2008-06-18T15:41:00.007-06:00

Today I was reading a blog post about blog posts. (For explanation CF Husband is a blog written by Nate whose wife has Cystic Fibrosis, the same genetic disease Cindy has.) Anyway, I started asking myself if I followed good blogging rules.

Yes and no, I think.

First off, why do I blog? If you look on my blog you'll see all kinds of stuff; you'll see poetry, complaints, lots of random stories, I'll write about my opinion, the gospel, and my own stupidity (one of my favorite tags), etc. In short I write about a lot of stuff. But how are they all connected?
A: They aren't. The only connection between the different things on my blog is this: they are all things I want to write about. I probably don't have a lot of readers, I doubt anyone reads every post, but it's something that I enjoy and I try to make sure I do it often enough that you keep at least some interest.

Second, why do I blog about it? I was in a class the other day when the teacher said that Elder Ballard indicated that blogs are a great tool for spreading the gospel There are quite a few LDS blogs. I think that one of the ways we can help reduce misconception of Latter-day Saint culture (Mormons) is to let people know what we stand for. I am ever impressed at how well Cindy is at this.
You'll notice that I don't often blog about the gospel, I like blogging about other things too, I like writing stories (even if they are dumb), I like complaining about English grammar.

One thing I really picked up from the CF Husband post was that our blogs should have a purpose and that if we want anyone to read our blog, we need to be constant. I agree—I'm just awful at it. My purpose is kinda vague, and when I'm busy with school . . . I just don't write. But that doesn't change the fact that I want to be better, I want to add to the conversation.

Let me explain what I mean. Many of you may know me as one who has opinions about everything, who shares them, but who doesn't take the time to formulate them. I admit that sometimes I'm so hasty to get my opinion heard that I don't take the time to have a good point. I noticed this, and I'm learning to shut my mouth more, but I still have a need to be heard, to tell everyone that I know the gospel is true. I still have a need to let everyone know that I think that morality cannot be emotionless (unlike what Kant believed). I love it when people call my cell phone just to hear the message I have left on there. I love to write gibberish stories for the sake of one or two smiles. I really like to write about Cindy and how awesome I think she is. And in general I just like to share my opinion, though I do need to learn to think about things more before I spout off at the mouth, but I still have an intense and burning desire to be heard.

. . .

Now, about what I will do to blog better: I want to be more regular (if you snickered at that, good for you!). I want to write more serious posts (but don't make me take away my jfthoi posts). Now, sometimes I do post comments of other blogs so that I can subscribe to the comments (there's no other way) but I'm not doing that to get people to my blog; I blog for me, I just hope you read it.

Anyway, perhaps you think I'm some crazy person (even I admit that I'm just about normal) without a life . . . that's okay, I don't mind.

Missing Cindy . . .

2008-06-17T20:52:00.003-06:00

Well, Cindy came to Rexburg for 3 weeks, which wasn't nearly long enough but I can't tell you how glad I am that she was able to come for that long. We had a lot of fun in that time, but the next time I see her will be two days before our wedding on her birthday (which is the 20th of August, I think I'll get her a nice pancake . . . I'm going to run make it right now!)

. . . okay, I'm back, the pancake is made and wrapped.

Anyway, like I said, I won't see Cindy for another 64 days, I miss her. And though I wish she were here, but I'll be pretty busy so I think it'll be okay, I have 5 weeks left of school and 5 weeks (filled with work) later she'll be here again! Not to mention, time has flown as it is, it seems like yesterday that we had 7 months to go and now we're bordering on 2 months—tomorrow we'll be married a year*.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well.

*Not really tomorrow, I'm sure it will just feel like that.