Today's Spiritual Message: Kids and Christmas

I hope you enjoy this intro to the Christmas season.

Ancient Scripture Provides Answers to Modern Critics

Okay, so earlier this morning, I wrote the previous post, http://cougarabogado.blogspot.com/2010/12/modern-computing-set-to-enter-matrix-as.html.

I commented, near the end of that post, that I feel apprehensive about what man will do with such massive improvements in technology.  Moreover, we can see how man has already begun to make relativistic arguments that God is a figment of man's imagination and that sin is simply a misnomer, or rather, "the effect of a frenzied mind."

Answers to modern critics

I think you'll find it interesting to note, ironically, that nearly identical arguments were made over two thousand years ago!  (So much for man having evolved into a much "smarter" creature, since that time.)  In fact, I found myself reading about them, this morning, for my daily scripture study, in the Book of Mormon.

Here are some of the arguments made by an ancient (to us, "modern" to himself), "scientific" philosopher:

13O ye that are bound down under a ^afoolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can ^bknow of anything which is to come.

 14Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.

 15How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not ^asee; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.

 16Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a ^afrenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.

 17And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man ^afared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and^bwhatsoever a man did was ^cno crime.

 18And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms—telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.

(Alma 30: 13-18).  Sound familiar?  I strongly encourage you to read pages 214-16 of the latest Book of Mormon study companion.  There, you'll find "modern" comparisons to this man (Korihor)'s teachings and answers to his challenges.

Indeed, man may be advancing in computing potential by leaps and bounds, yet some of his foolish arguments against the existence of God and sin have been parroted for millennia.

I'm so grateful our Heavenly Father foresaw these evil philosophies (see, e.g., Doctrine & Covenants 89: 4) and provided us with divine scripture, almost 200 years ago, to combat them and protect our families against them.

Modern Computing Set to Enter The Matrix (as in the movie)

Okay, every now and again, I read an article about future technologies, and I get pretty stoked.  I remember first reading about USB 3.0, Google's 100Gb internet project, Chrome OS :), and others.

I can legitimately say I often feel like computer technology will move a lot faster than we expect.  Well, over the past couple days, I've seen some more evidence for that belief.

If you want to understand where I'm coming from, here, READ THE TWO ARTICLES I LIST, BELOW.  I'M TELLING YOU, THEY MAY TAKE 15-20 MINUTES TO READ, TOTAL, AND YOUR BRAIN WILL BE LEAPING OUT OF YOUR SKULL.  (Or at least I imagine you're going to be blown away.)  (I apologize, in advance, for a couple innuendos in the second article I was offended by.)

IBM chips: Let there be light signals

When I read the following article by Stephen Shankland at CNET (clicking on the image above will also take you there), my eyebrows raised:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20024223-264.html?tag=mncol;1n

When I read the following article by Jason Perlow at ZDnet (also in the image, below), my eyebrows fell off.  Seriously:  http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/exaflop-computing-moores-law-isnt-dead-its-moved-to-warp-speed/15021pg%3D2?tag=mantle_skin;content

Exaflop computing: Moore's Law isn't dead, It's Moved to Warp Speed

My understanding is basically that this new technology will be like putting fiber optics on CPUs and making things crazy fast.  In the interest of time, here is one excerpt from the ZDnet article:

Eventually, perhaps by the year 2020 or even sooner, nanophotonic supercomputers will exist that approach the Exaflop range in terms of performance . . . .

So with Exaflop-level supercomputing and enterprise computing, or even Petaflop-level consumer computing, just what exactly can you do with all of that processing power?

Well, with Exaflop/s, you can do the sort of things that take current supercomputers weeks or years to do in only minutes or days. It would allow the average citizen to gene sequence their babies the moment they are born to anticipate future diseases for an entire lifetime, or sequence their own DNA and apply corrective action as needed, such as synthesize custom medications.

It would allow for the  real-time simulation of complex systems such as world weather and allow for meteorological science to advance at a level approaching magic or witchcraft  — the ability to accurately model how destructive storms such as tornadoes and hurricanes actually work and form, and accurately predict how they will behave.

WHOA.  Levels approaching magic or witchcraft?  I'm reminded of some scenery from the book of Revelation here, "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"  (Revelation 13: 4)

I take great comfort in remembering that the Savior has all power, and He will come to cleanse the earth, maybe sooner than we realize.

I used to think that all those things about the beast, etc. having a lot of power would be someone using old-school witch-craft.  I'm now betting it will be super-computing witchcraft.  And if we already worship ourselves (think the Internet, Facebook, Twitter) now, think about how much more that will intensify in under a decade!

I'm feeling blown out of my socks right now.  I'm very apprehensive about what man could negatively do with this massive technological breakthrough.  On the other hand, I'm even more awed to get a minute taste of how much power the Savior Jesus Christ has and remember that He is in control.  Phew!

Okay, now back to earth, class, and finishing my Corporate Finance paper on golden parachutes . . .

(Oh, and happy 375th post to me.  Maybe I'm entering warp speed, myself?)

Late Night Cheer

Sometimes I can feel pretty depressed with life and law school papers.  These family photos helped cheer me up so much, I want to share them with you.  I hope you enjoy!

Please visit my wife's blog for the captions and background information.  Ah, if only tonight were 12/16/10!  (Finals/everything over and done.)

Please Write Apple and Invite Steve Jobs to Restore the Manhattan Declaration App

I believe we live in a glorious nation that excels in letting people speak their mind.

On the other hand, I was sad to learn, recently, that Apple removed the Manhattan Declaration App from its app store because some people consider it hateful and bigoted.

I suppose some people may say I'm hateful and bigoted because I support traditional marriage and believe homosexual behavior is immoral and sinful.

As I've openly declared before, I have a brother who self-identifies as homosexual, and I love him very much.  On the other hand, I am disappointed with his choice to label himself that way.

Rather than view my brother as an inferior gay, or a "second class citizen," I view him as a beloved child of God who merits my love and respect.

Although I feel I've expressed my disagreement in love, I'm surprised to see so many people shouting their wish to silence me and others they disagree with.  While, I strongly disagree with those who who support same-sex marriage and similar views, I firmly believe they have a right to politely speak their voice.

Rather than be silenced, I will let my voice be heard, and I have.  Here is what I wrote to Steve Jobs on this matter:

Mr. Jobs:

First of all, my congratulations on Apple's many successes this year. I'm particularly impressed with the new MacBook Air line. Moreover, I'm curious to see how Apple responds to Chrome OS, once it actually arrives. :)

With that said, I was very sad to learn that Apple removed the Manhattan Declaration App.

I feel very strongly about traditional marriage, an unborn child's right to life, and the preservation of religious freedom in this greatest nation on earth.

I view Apple as a strong presence in our society and, as I believe Apple intends to be, a trend setter.

I invite you to use your influence for good, to let individuals peacefully speak their mind.

Please reinstate the Manhattan Declaration app.

All the best[.]

Writing six years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley invited us to stand for truth:

The building of public sentiment begins with a few earnest voices. I am not one to advocate shouting defiantly or shaking fists and issuing threats in the faces of legislators. But I am one who believes that we should earnestly and sincerely and positively express our convictions to those given the heavy responsibility of making and enforcing our laws. The sad fact is that the minority who call for greater liberalization, who peddle and devour pornography, who encourage and feed on licentious display make their voices heard until those in our legislatures may come to believe that what they say represents the will of the majority. We are not likely to get that which we do not speak up for.

Let our voices be heard. I hope they will not be shrill voices, but I hope we shall speak with such conviction that those to whom we speak shall know of the strength of our feeling and the sincerity of our effort. Remarkable consequences often flow from a well-written letter and a postage stamp. Remarkable results come of quiet conversation with those who carry heavy responsibilities.

Will you please stand with me in inviting Steve Jobs and Apple to reinstate the Manhattan Declaration and to let people speak their mind?

You can write him at steve@apple.com.

Please also sign the petition to have the app reinstated.

If you have yet to sign the Manhattan Declaration, please sign it at the link, below.

http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/home.aspx

The Chrome Web Store Approaches . . .

I hope you liked my Two Towers quote reference in the title.

I got a peak of the fancy new Chrome Web Store icon, when I installed canary 9.0.597.0 tonight.  Too bad canary went crash happy on me, and I'm now riding the dev channel, once again.

It sounds like, from Alex Chitu, over at Google Operating System, the Web Store will be available for all versions of Chrome once the stable channel hits version 8, which Alex believes will happen this week.

Yes, as the closet-geek I consider myself, I've deeply missed my real app tabs these past few months . . .

Situations to Avoid with Your AirDuster

While I greatly enjoy all of the slashed out images, I particularly enjoy the first one.  I am reminded of some advice President Uchtdorf received from the late President James E. Faust about well-meaning flattery:

“Dieter, be thankful for this. But don’t you ever inhale it.”

I feel like I'm on fire, today!

TCU to Leave Mountain West for Big East . . .

Well, so much for the glorious rebirth of the Mountain West.  Now that the MW's arguably three best football programs are leaving, as one headline puts it, Boise State appears set to enter WAC 2.0.  Poor Broncos.

Please weigh in with your thoughts, below.

I know I'll get at least one comment(er) on this post.

(Too bad I'll already have graduated from UC by the time TCU joins the conference.)

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kenberry Family

In case you missed it, here's our family's Thanksgiving card.

To give you the true Smilebox effect, I've added a link to the music, below (so you can listen to it in the background, while you fawn over my daughter, me, and my wife's photographic skills).

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/824238865

In case you're puzzled, this is literally what we sent out.  My wife claims someone spiked the eggnog; I, on the other hand, simply enjoy her late-night (and Internet savvy) sense of humor.

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: The Divine Gift of Gratitutde

I hope you enjoy this talk from President Thomas S. Monson on gratitude:



I also hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  We all have so much to be grateful for!

Here's another clip from a cartoon series my wife and I really enjoy.  It's about a Japanese Stonecutter who wished for more.  The intro starts at about 4:40.

Ostrich Napping

When it rains, it pours.

I hope you enjoy this video on how to get the best zzz.

Toddler Cha Cha

For all you talent finders out there, we accept cash, check, credit card, PayPal, new electronics, or babysitting.

Well, actually, let's just stick to anything I listed, other than babysitting.

We Got Planted on Thanksgiving

To be candid, I share our daughter's amusement.  At like 8-9am, I heard a thud outside and thought little of it.  When I later noticed the pot and accompanying dirt outside, I felt rather bemused.

Mrs. Doubtfire has her run by fruitings, Germany has its blurred building street view eggings, and now I guess we have our own drive by plantings.

My wife thinks it was the antics of a senseless inebriate.  I, on the other hand, feel differently.  How could a wine-sodden hooligan effectively launch such a large pot over the moat, surrounding our apartment?

Nay, I believe this was a direct attack.  But why?  Is it because I like the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, or Denver Nuggets?  Is this the aftermath of an angry Bengals fan letting off steam at an "out-of-towner" and teaching him "who dey" are?  This unsolved mystery could live on forever.

In the end, like our daughter, I'm very thankful for some random, Thanksgiving Day amusement.  So, I say "Thank you, Mr. Random Potted Plant Thrower!"  (Cue Budweiser background singer.)

Feel free to weigh in with your own conspiracy theory, in the Comments section, below.  (I'm looking forward to completing your training, F-Word.)

Trick Play

If only my high school football team could have pulled off something like this my senior year . . .  Ah, well.

Props to my man smiele for bringing this to my attention.

Duke Energy Gets Smarter . . .

My wife found this on our front door a few minutes ago . . .

I'm glad Duke's doings things smarter.

Hope this brings you a smile.

Sunday's Spiritual Message: Congratulations to Kimberly & Jesse!

Last Friday, my wife and I had the privilege of attending my sister-in-law's wedding.

I was very touched by the Spirit I felt in the room for their sealing (wedding for eternity) and am very happy for their eternal start.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Chrome OS = Vaporware?

http://chromeossite.com/2010/11/17/google-chrome-os-vapourware/

Vaporware.  Computer Slang; a product, esp. software, that is promoted or marketed while it is still in development and that may never be produced.

This may sound blasphemous (especially with a British spelling).  On the other hand, if you listen to the last three minutes or so of the video below, you'll hear that when Google CEO Eric Schmidt is asked about when Chrome OS will be released.  He says the software will come out in a few months.  The reporter then asks when the next Android upgrade will come out, and he says in a few weeks . . .

Ah, well.  I'm confident Chrome OS will come out soon enough and that the sun will still rise, tomorrow (at least in China).  I was going to wait a long time before buying a Chrome OS device, anyway.  On the other hand, if Google does miss the holiday season, I imagine it will at least miss marginal sales to some (however, I imagine the most hardcore fanboys will wait to buy a new machines until the actual release, regardless).

Yesterday's Spiritual Message: Thanksgiving Daily

I enjoyed these thoughts about living a happier life by simply being grateful, every day, for what we already have.

Air [Eats] iPad

After multitudinous hours of reading appellate court opinions and dicing them up with my own overview and spin, I'm ready for a little fresh Air:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20022746-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20  (I feel this post is brief enough to include it here, in its entirety.  See my comments, below.)

A report on Friday claimed "anecdotal evidence" of the 11.6-inch MacBook air cannibalizing the iPad. Hmm...so, is that what Steve Jobs meant by iPad-meets-MacBook?

MacBook meets the iPad. Either-or buying decision?

(Credit: Apple)

This research note came to me Friday from Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw. "Signs of cannibalization: There is anecdotal evidence that the MacBook Air is cannibalizing the iPad. A fully functional notebook in a very attractive form factor may be resonating more with consumers than a content consumption only device."

That "content consumption only device" being the iPad, of course.

So, is this what happens when the iPad meets the 11.6-inch MacBook Air? Consumers walk away with the MacBook instead?

If only partially true, it's an interesting twist on a trend that's actually going in the other direction. Nvidia believes next-generation Android tablets will obviate the need for traditional laptops, as tablets become more adept at multitasking and begin to approach the processing power of low-end laptops.

And hybrids make this argument seemingly irrelevant. The Windows-based Dell Duo fuses a laptop with a tablet. If that kind of design proves popular, who needs a boring, old traditional laptop?

For now, the smaller MacBook Air looks and feels a lot like an iPad with a built-in keyboard. Until we're well into 2011, we won't know who's cannibalizing whom. But my money is on the tablet doing the devouring. With the iPad leading the way.

My money?:  Just look at how the Air is positioned (in the photo and the world).  It's poised to pounce on the iPad, take it's lunch money, eat its entrails, and then scatters its keyboard-less ashes over the Mediterranean.

I am also basing this on my own personal experience.  Okay, I toyed with both devices for probably under 60 seconds each, yet I can say I loved the Air and loathed the iPad.  Maybe I'm just a content producer (rather than a good-for-nothing "consumption [schlemiel] only").

All bashing aside, when I used the iPad, I felt impatient, uncomfortable, and underwhelmed.  The load speeds seemed slow, I found the device unergonomic and the keyboard frustrating, and the flick with my finger thing was cool for a couple seconds.

On the other hand, when I experienced the Air, I basked on its keyboard, I salivated at its load speeds, and I marveled at its holistic beauty.  I'm a big-time keyboard user, a self-proclaimed speed demon, and a sucker for laptops.  May they all go the way of the Air (as Mr. Turtleneck (pictured above) declared they will).



Tangent:  I hope you enjoy this one.  I love how Blu-ray is now the must have item . . .  My prediction:  in two - four years, DVD will be largely irrelevant.  I'll take the Air, even up in the air, thanks (especially with free wi-fi for the holidays and the ability to stream videos online).

Ever Texting . . .

"What could be more deceptive than to entice the youth of this noble generation to do nothing or to be busy ever-texting but never coming to a knowledge of the truths contained in a book that was written for you and your day by prophets of God—the Book of Mormon?" (See 2 Timothy 3: 7) (See also The Keystone of Our Religion - search for "the second great reason") - A Return to Virtue, Elaine S. Dalton, October 2008

"Reality" pops up its ugly head

Well, here we go again.  More evidence indicating that addictive behaviors can be substantially detrimental.

Remember the Word of Wisdom that tells us to avoid coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs?  Yeah, that was given in 1833.  How many studies had been done on the harmful effects of those substances, at that time?

Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation— 

Doctrine & Covenants 89: 4 (emphasis added).

The Lord has called prophets and apostles in our day to warn and forewarn us.

President Thomas S. Monson

One of the things we've been consistently warned against lately, is spending too much time surfing the Web (finger pointing at self), playing video games, texting, or engaging in other objectively anti-social behavior.

Check out the following search, for example, and you'll see what I mean:

http://new.lds.org/search?lang=eng&start=1&end=10&query=texting&id=

An apostle of the Church said the following, 20 years ago:

The living prophet has the power of TNT. By that I mean "Todays News Today." God's revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore, the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet . . .

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3: 7).

How grateful I am to have such faithful servants on the earth, today!

The Savior giving His apostles the authority to act in His name

Update:  This morning I came across another message that addresses this issue.  (Search on the page for "using the internet")