Today's Spiritual Message: Apostles on the Earth Today

Yesterday morning, Elder Neil L. Anderson was called by God to take up the mantel of Apostleship left behind by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.

Elder Anderson certainly did not seek nor much less ask for this holy calling, but as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has said:

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we do not seek, nor do we decline, callings that come from God through inspired priesthood channels.

Click on the picture of Elder Holland at the top left to hear why we believe in continued revelation.

This morning (4/5/09) he gave one of the most beautiful and moving talks on the Atoning sacrifice of the Savior Jesus Christ I have ever heard. (Click the picture to the right, then Sunday AM, then Elder Jeffery R. Holland to watch it.)

I testify that Jesus is the Christ and the only way we can overcome the pitfalls of this life: both our own mistakes as well as the pains, sorrows, and injustices of this mortal existence (including death).

The New Testament record reads:

And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

In our day it has been said:

The twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world

I testify that these humble men have been called by Jesus Christ that they might assist Him in bringing all the children of God unto Himself and unto life evermore.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Latest Gmail Releases: Once You Pop, You Just Can't Stop

I might not always have amazing blog fodder, but Gmail seems to pop out amazing updates to it's "Beta" email client on a daily basis.

In case your level of interest in Gmail rivals my interest in March Madness, allow me to fill you in.

Have you ever wondered allowed (it's okay, you don't have to admit it) why search engines like Google and others will auto-complete a likely match to your desired query but there wasn't that same functionality in the Gmail search box?

Well, fellow closet geeks (I know there's at least two of you out there), your time has come! That's right, Gmail now carries a feature in Labs where, if enabled, will auto-complete common searches like email addresses and attachment searches.

See Gmail's Official Blog for more details. (You'll probably need to scroll down a touch.)

As if that wasn't enough for a hard day's labor, Gmail has (finally, IMHO) enhanced it's chat status box, so you don't have to guess at what's showing up in it. Remember how the box was tiny and wouldn't let you see what you were typing? Try it out now, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

In Case You Haven't Figured it Out Yet:

At the behest of his Kness and due to the tireless pleadings of one Scott "Smiele" Miele, I've decided to come clean.

Don't worry, I'm not confessing here to anything more grievous than being associated with jovial company. The Internet knows all of my darkest and most clandestine secrets will never show up on a blog post, email, or even a word doc . . .

The whole Harvard thing was an April Fool's day gag you didn't pick up on (that is, if this is coming as a surprise to you). You probably never looked at the Official Acceptance letter I posted, but that would have taken an extra three seconds of your time, so I can certainly understand! :)

I do thank those of you kind enough to believe the best of me.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all treated each other with the same awe, respect, and borderline-reverence we give the, "Top 5% of all [Academic] aviators, the elite, best of the best"?

No, I'm not planning on retaking the LSAT (for a third time) to improve my chances of instasuccess after law school.

But I do still plan to topple Google once I've made more than Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, and A-Rod combined.

I don't need Harvard to ensure my net worth's greater than 40 developing countries: just ask his Kness's favorite executive, Steve Jobs. Can you name where he did or did not get his advanced degree?

Yes, when I buy-out Google and own the world's collective information, there will be few daring enough to mention my unfortunate bid for Harvard glory . . . My empire will be complete, absolute, but most certainly not evil. :)

Keep believing.

My Bracket's Broken!

Yes, I suppose it's only poetic justice that I, being a fair weather fan for my own teams, not having watched a single display of madness this year, and having turned down the law school whose team I picked to win it all; again, it's only poetic justice my bracket should fall short.

If I had won, what would have happened to the house of cards built upon male machismo?

What would have happened to the daily exchanges of, "My bracket could beat up your bracket in a fight!"?

No, it's only fair that I, who care so little about sports in general anymore should fall short while another, more avid enthusiast, should rise to the top of male glory and so enable the dream of sportsaholics everywhere to live on.

I also forgot to mention how a dark and dreary shadow would have set over my team at work, most likely forecasted with scowls, disbelief, and anger for up to two or three months, capped off with icy temperatures and mumblings of, "Sheer luck!"

So instead, I raise my glass to glassy-eyed men everywhere and proclaim, "You didn't win it all this year, but maybe next year if you watch 20 hours more than the 30 you put in this year, the tournament gods will smile upon you and your house with a $20 pay-out approval."

Until then, watch on, ye loyal sports enthusiasts!

Re: HARVARD!!

If you haven't had a chance yet, make sure you check out my OFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE LETTER.

With that said, I would like to thank the following individuals for personally congratulating me, I really appreciate it!

1. Robert
2. Devin
3. Chris
4. Jeff
5. Ryan
6. Scott
7. Daren
8. Keith
9. Sevak
10. Tyler
11. Stu
12. Stuart
13. Greg (especially since he's going to NYU, this really meant a lot to me)

I just hope that if I can graduate at the top 1% of my class, I can come back to work for my company, Qualtrics, as General Counsel, when it acquires Google.

HARVARD!!!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YES!!

Remember how I said I was still waiting to hear back from Harvard and Chicago? Well this morning I woke up to the surprise and shock of a life time: I GOT IN TO HARVARD LAW SCHOOL!!!!!

When I saw the email in my inbox I couldn't believe my eyes. The message was titled, "Congratulations from Harvard Law!"

At first I kept hitting myself on the forehead but I remembered that yesterday, when I asked the admissions committee to send my decision letter to my address here in Utah I got a response back saying:

Daniel,

Thank you for your email. All admissions decisions will be sent via email. Thank you.

Best,
J.D. Admissions
So I realized this was the real thing!
To add to the reality, Toby Stock, Assistant Dean and Dean of Admissions said the following:

Daniel, congratulations on your acceptance to Harvard Law School. Back in September, you wrote me a brief email thanking me for visiting BYU and that really impressed me. I'm confident a gracious and ambitious student like yourself will be a welcomed asset to Harvard Law. I'll see you in the fall.

At this point I about passed out. But I looked back through my emails and found this exchange:

Mr. Stock,

I wanted to thank you for your visit to BYU today but I had to run off to class.

I appreciated your candor, comments, and thoughtful responses; I really enjoyed what you had to say.

Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to know you a little better over the phone some time soon . . .

Thanks again for your time and for coming all the way out here. (Although something tells me that the flight probably wasn’t on your own dime, right?)

Regards.


At the time, I didn't think this little thank you would mean anything as he simply replied:


Thanks & good luck w/ the process

_______________________________
Toby W. Stock '01
Assistant Dean & Dean of Admissions
Harvard Law School
Office of JD Admissions, Austin 202
1515 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-3179


I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click here to see my official Harvard acceptance page!

The Wait of Our List Grows Waitier

Just when you thought it was safe to say all of my law school decisions had come in, we got word from W&M.

Chalk up another Virgina-based school (George Washington [yes, I know it's in D.C., but how VA-ish can you get?], Washington & Lee, and George Mason) for my protruding list. UCONN and Vanderbilt are both on there, but I would probably go to Cincinnati (where we now have a seat deposit) over UCONN and my chances at Vandy are pretty slim.

Yep, so I just have left to hear back from Harvard and Chicago . . . Hey, after applying to 27 law schools, two seems like an imaginary number.

I'll keep you posted. Harvard's going to email me it's rejection letter, err, I mean, it's decision any minute now. I'm not sure about Chicago, but it's probably the same deal . . .

Stay tuned!

OH, AND A VERY BIG SHOUT OUT TO RoW FOR HIS LATEST JOB OFFER!!

CONGRATS & SALAD!!!!

Last Sunday's (3/29) Spiritual Message: What's So fUnNY?

Yes, being a proud couple made up of a recent alum and year old alumna, my wife and I couldn't help but accept an invitation to hear Brad Wilcox (his Web page) talk about humor and why it's so important. In our day-to-day life.

If you've ever heard him speak before, you know what an impeccable speaker and talented orator he is.

If you've ever met me, you know what a sad excuse for a class clown and town idiot I am. So this lecture was right up my alley.

This post carries a spiritual heading because the purpose of the discourse (or whatever you want to call it) was to highlight how humor is beneficial for dealing with life and uplifting ourselves spiritually.

I can't remember who said it, but Brad quoted him as more or less saying, "There are some things which tears and sweat cannot resolve which can only be dissolved with humor." How true this is.

Among many stories, he shared one about a plane flight he was on where the plane suddenly dropped in a violent downfall and thud, thud, thudded on the runway. Everyone, wide-eyed and speechless, looked around the plane in disbelief. Out of nowhere, the stern voice of the captain broke the silence: "Take THAT, you bad, bad runway!" The mass of passengers erupted into laughter and each person thanked him graciously upon exiting the plane. What a turnaround.

(As a side note, this happened in our own home the other day when one of us dropped a ceramic cup and it broke. Instead of getting angry or frustrated, I exclaimed, "Take THAT, you bad, bad kitchen floor!" Good times.)

Similarly a young man was exiting a store, let's say Wal-Mart, with his father, feeling exuberant. Sadly, the youth underestimated his weight and overestimated his need for fun, put both feet on the end of the cart . . . and tipped it all over himself, eggs, flour, and other items splattering all over the pavement. Instead of berating his less than cautious teenager, the man just laughed.

When asked how he could possibly laugh at such a difficult moment, he responded, "Well, the eggs certainly aren't coming back!" Yea, verily.

Here's a great example of humor from the Book of Mormon (this is my personal insertion):

At length their provisions did arrive, and they were about to enter the city by night. And we, instead of being Lamanites, were Nephites; therefore, we did take them and their provisions.

This is a classic example of humorous understatement in the scriptures. To get the full context of the story, click here.

The long and short of everything is that finding humor (mind you, this is not to say having a sense of humor, but just looking for it) in all of our numerous trials, difficulties, and varied situations will give us the energy (as they say in Spanish, pilas [batteries]) and happiness to confront the storms of life and not be overcome.

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

You know the absurd cliche which goes, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"?

Well, tonight, I just proved it wrong, wrong, wrong.

That's right C.A. fans, Yours Truly has amazed even himself with a little golden nugget he panned out or rather, stumbled upon, tonight.

If you've kept your finger on the pulse of the C.A., you would know how infatuated this blogger is about the pristine, incomparable, and unsullied speed of the new Google Chrome browser.

What you might not expect, however, is that tonight, Chrome actually led me to discover a trick to unlock a little more speed in my still preferred Firefox (at least as far as scrolling in a page is concerned).

I know, I was baffled, bamboozled, and dumbfounded myself. But you heard it here first.

Here's the background: I'm often frustrated () by the slow scrolling speeds I experience in Firefox.

So, tonight, as I was scrolling up and down in Gmail, I had a stroke of pure revelation.

Maybe the slow scrolling speeds I've experienced in Firefox have all been because I've had that blasted "use smooth scrolling" option checked in the advanced browser settings.

Sure enough, I went into my FF settings, unchecked that puppy and voila! It's like I've released a caged cheetah who is now free to roam and devour its speedy prey at will.

It's Official

You always knew I was a blood sucking parasite who aspires to taking other people's hard-earned cash.

Well guess what.

I'm on track to become the next Bill Gates.

That's right. For those of you who have doubted me, my day of glory has come!

My vindication is complete.

I am destined to rule the world from a ruby-encrusted throne, while the rest of you suffer through underpaid, overworked, and boring careers.

High above the rest will I sit in my Death Star throne room, watching the TIE fighters fly by and Luke Skywalker duking it out with his pops, just for the chance to be my COO.

Don't believe me?

Have a look yourself: It's official.

Last Sunday's (3/22) Spiritual Message: More of the Temple

I know I've talked about the temple a lot, but my wife and I had a special experience last Saturday and I thought I'd tell you about it.

We were exactly three weeks from Maria's due date, so we figured we might want to attend the temple sooner than later, for obvious reasons.

We had the chance to help perform the sealing ordinance for a number of families who have since passed on. In other other words, we helped to make it possible so that these people could literally be together forever.

The second sealer (or a man who holds the authority to "seal" or unite families beyond the grave, as given him by the President of the Church or one of the Twelve Apostles) who relieved the first sealer was actually a former member of the temple presidency, President Lambert.

Why is this substantial? Because, among other things, when I first started to work (volunteer, really) at the Provo Temple, the man who set me apart (or who gave me the authority to work in the temple) was President Lambert.

He told me, among other things which are near and dear to my heart, that I would meet my wife, while I was working at the temple . . . I met my wife less than two weeks later!

So, it was a pretty special experience to have him be there and to perform the ordinances as we helped others receive the same blessing we have received: that of the potential for an eternal marriage, as provided through the sacred sealing ordinance. (Assuming we live worthy of it.)

The Blessings of the Temple

You Say BUSH was a Blundering . . .

To all of my Liberalites out there, you knew this post was coming.

Oh you know, my Grandma was just a "typical white person." Besides, all of those backwoods hicks are just "bitter." As a matter of fact:

They cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations

Oh, well, I guess they're "likable enough."

But you know what's really funny, Jay? My latest excursion at the bowling alley. "It's like—it was like Special Olympics, or something."

Er, I mean . . . doh.

Yes, these were all said by the infallible man we now call President. (Click here to read more in an article from the home-town Tribune, those narrow-minded writers.)

The purpose of this post is in no way meant to lambaste President Obama. As our Commander-in-Chief, I honor and respect him.

The point here is the delicious irony that my pals on the left have been yelling, Fool! at a man I called President for eight years.

It just cracks me up to see them get a punch in the stomach from the intellectually impervious and moral Chicago law professor turned Celebrity-in-the-middle-of-a-crisis-on-the-Jay-Leno-Show President.

With that said, and now that Rome is burning in the midst of the camera lights popping . . . no hard feelings.

Oh wait, it was all Bush's fault anyway, right? (I forgot.)

Just When Gmail Couldn't Get Any Awesomer

Yes, F-Word, you knew this post was coming, and no, my boss at Qualtrics who also works at Google Asia isn't paying me for it (although I always welcome PayPal donations graciously).

We've all experienced it: you send a pretty important email to a high profile contact, only to remember at the last second that you left off a word or said something completely inane.

What was the previous remedy? To simply cross your fingers, fold your arms, and hope in the name of all that is good and decent that the recipient wouldn't notice the gaffe, wouldn't care, or would be mysteriously found at the bottom of a lake somewhere in Minnesota (not at your hands, though, of course). I hear they have a lot of those.

Some people are so meticulous and astute they've never been human enough to send a goofed up email in their life . . .

For the rest of us, there's Mastercard. Er, I mean, there's Gmail Labs' Undo Send.

Yep, it means exactly what it says; you can recall an email you just sent from being sent. If you have the wherewithal to notice the oversight within five seconds (which can seem like an eternity once you've kicked the pooch) that you sent that important law school an email with a link to your blog in it, you can now mend your ways!

Clicking the "Undo" button will take you safely home back to Kansas, er, to your compose window where all will be well in Taylorsville.

That's right, F-Word, even Hermoine Granger couldn't come up with a time turner this miraculous.

(Let me know if you need help on figuring it out and the CA will be more than happy to help.)

The Joys of Being Fair Weather

Yes, Cougar fans, I've rambled on this subject before, but with BYU's fresh disappointments in the Mountain West tourney and another disheartening (yet completely expected) first round NCAA loss still on our minds, I think it's only fitting.

To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less.

I can't remember the last time I went to a basketball game (it was probably over two years ago) at the Marriott Center and I have no regrets whatsoever.

From a team who's fans yell "pass interference!" and have surprisingly little class (at least so I'm told), and from a team who is always hyped beyond the immediate orbit of the moon, my common reaction to BYU victories and losses has become a routine and disinterested, "meh."

I think growing older and more cynical has hardened me and washed away the innocent and hopeful dreams of my youth. I always believed BYU would advance to the championship game in basketball and somehow win the national championship in football . . .

I guess earning a college degree has helped to breathe a little common sense and healthy skepticism into my once big-eyed and "the sky's the limit" mentality. Considering BYU hasn't advanced past the first round for 16 years, this would same to be a natural process of maturation.

Perhaps more disgruntling than BYU's predictable first round flop is the fact that I picked the runnin their mouths Utes to advance to the second round in my office bracket. Oh, the shame of it all.

(That and I'm still bitter at Max Hall for blowing our football season this year.)

F-Word and fellow sports fans, please chime in.

Uhh . . .

Just when I thought "art" in general couldn't get any worse . . . the "community" had to go and do something like this.

Honestly, didn't people know that DIA had enough troubles already before condoning to display a monumental monstrosity such as this?

First of all (and I only have this on a rumor), I understand this abomination was paid for with tax dollars. Who in the wide wide world of sports ever had the gumption (or lack of brain cells) to consider this "thing" worthy of even one cent of legally mandated collection!

Next, and to be brutally honest, I first caught glimpse of this stallion in an email from my brother which I thought was nothing more than a Photo Shopped joke, a snowball email. This aught to say something about the quality of the "art."

The "horse" is oddly proportioned: it seems to be pretty sturdy near its hind legs and yet its front two legs are bony and has a neck and mane which appear a la Loch Ness.

For the sake of the children viewing this blog (F-Word), I opted not to display the graphic pictures which portray the maleness of this creature's "special" anatomy . . .

I'm told this fiery steed has protruding eyes which glow red at night. I've heard some people call this beast the first horse of the apocalypse and given the tale that it fell on and crushed its "creator," I'm beginning to wonder myself.

I don't know which is more of a deliberate punch in the stomach: this gibberish or the recent and "professional" performance of the football team which this animal represents . . .

Google Chrome: The Best & The Worst

For those of you who are internet savvy enough to know what a "browser" is, you're probably aware (or at least you should be) that Google released the first version of it's very own browser, Chrome, around October of last year.

What you might not be aware of, however, is that Chrome, while trounced by IE and FF in overall browser market share, is leaps and bounds faster and more streamlined than any other browser.

I have been seriously tempted to use Chrome for this reason alone.

However, I've been forced to put Chrome on the shelf in favor of FF, for the time being, for the following reasons:

1. No AdBlock Plus
2. No FAYT
3. No other serious addons
4. No SalesForce integration

If you don't know what AdBlock Plus is, you need to stop what you're doing (including using IE) and install it in FireFox right now. You know all of those obnoxious (and often filthy/sleazy) ads that infest your guarded Web page space? AdBlock Plus effectively eliminates all of the junk and leaves your pages clean (in more way than one) and unobstructed. Observe the difference. Can you guess which screen shot is from which browser (note that it's the same page).









I presume you can figure it out.

Next, other than RoW, you probably haven't heard of FAYT before. It's an addon in FF which stands for Find As You Type. The keyboard enthusiast seriously can't live without it and Google just doesn't seem to care (at least not yet). In FF, the default is for the generic (and very watered down) version of FAYT to be turned off. When I searched around for a good answer as to why Chrome doesn't have any kind of FAYT functionality, the answer was that some big shot at Google thinks it would confuse people to have it on by default and Google's aim is to make Chrome as widget free as possible (in other words, have the browser please the majority of users and ignore unique options).

Along with FAYT, I have a few other addons I love, including Cool Iris (for Google images) and Better Gmail 2. FAYT and AdBlock Plus are, admittedly, necessities, while the others are "nice."

Finally, I had the grand idea yesterday that since Chrome is so much snappier than FF and IE that I would use it for my daily work load in SalesForce (just think of it as Outlook for salesmen). To be short in writing, I live, eat, breathe, and die in SalesForce, so having it run a lot faster would be like going from a GoCart to a Ferrari. Sadly enough, SalesForce works fine with Chrome unless I want to send emails in our HTML templates which is, at least, 50-60% of my daily activity. Maybe one day, when Chrome captures more than just 1% of the overall market share and more than .005% of SalesForce users, it will be adopted and make my day that much faster.

As a final gee whiz, let me share a brief insight from one of our principal owners at Qualtrics, Jared Smith. Jared, along with helping to run Qualtrics, is a chief officer for Google Asia.

Admittedly, Google doesn't make a lot of money on things like its mobile phone operating system, Android or Chrome or even the famed Google Earth. Google makes these kinds of applications to make things like the Web better. MORE POWER TO 'EM.

I just hope they'll implement the four requests soon . . .

Why the Markets Crashed

If you don't understand what happened, here's a great, British explanation. ENJOY!

Sneaking Into the top 15 (Maybe)

Well, we now have another contender from the east and technically my best wait list yet: Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt weighs in at a stout number #15 on the top law schools ranking list and lies in the heart of Tennessee, otherwise known as Nashville.

Unfortunately for the C.A., should he be accepted, Vanderbilt is far and away the most expensive option of any of the schools who have shown a moderate degree of interest in him.

The best news: we only have eight more schools to hear from!

Today's Spiritual Message: Families are Forever

I am well aware of how often I speak on this subject. However, this week marks 17 years since an unforeseeable and tragic scouting accident left my mother a widow and Yours Truly without a father.

For those of you who have lost a family member or any kind of a "loved one," you know what a heart wrenching and soul searching experience this can be.

However, from the earliest days of my recollection, my tears of sorrow were never declarations of defeat or despair, but rather they were the simple longings of a little boy who yearned to hold his father and gaze into his radiant eyes.

"Isn't that the same thing?" you may ask. I would instantly beg to differ. You see, I have never felt that my father is gone forever or that I will never be with him again. On quite the contrary, I have always thought of his absence as a temporary parting, something like a prolonged business trip.

How can I have such a hope? "How could you believe such a tired and foolish superstition?" others would scowl. Yet, my knowledge is pure and simple: I know that because Jesus Christ has risen from the grave, we all will triumph over death.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:22)

The resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ is what extinguishes the sting of death.

What is it, then, which gives me the hope of being reunited with my father in the bonds which only family relationships can provide?

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers . . . (Malachi 4: 5-6)

The Savior has sent Elijah to the earth in our day, to restore the "sealing power." Said He to Peter:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16: 19)

The same power and authority which Jesus Christ bestowed upon Peter was also conferred upon Joseph Smith in these latter-days.

Thus, it is through the power of the "sealing" ordinance, performed in holy temples, by which I have a hope of being reunited with my father as well as being sealed to my wife and little daughter, Maria.

My wife and I had the privilege and blessing of going to the temple yesterday to feel of the Lord's Spirit and the eternal comfort and assurance that He is always there.

The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers, Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the temples of the Lord in the dispensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the sealing of the children to their parents . . . (D&C 138: 47-48)

For more on this subject, visit Mormon.org to read about LDS Temples and Family History.