Sunday, February 26, 2006

GeekList: Icehouse Pyramid Games Sorted by Average Rating: "There's also the two-player 'binary homeworlds', which obviously doesn't involve the good-evil element, and emphasizes even more the particular strategies of the game. The only other rule different from the regular is that you only have 3 of each color/size pyramid available (so 3 small blue, 3 small red, 3 small green, 3 small yellow, 3 medium blue, etc etc). Andrew, who people remember mostly for the luck-fest that is Fluxx, prefers binary homeworlds because there isn't that element of luck in the regular game."
Church Publications (HTML): "Today we are not called to pull handcarts through the snow-swept plains of Wyoming. However, we are called to live, foster, and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our privilege to invest our means and our time to bless others. Each one of us must do all we can to preserve our Latter-day Saint way of life. A vital part of this preservation is a willingness to set aside personal desires and replace them with unselfish sacrifice for others.

God bless you, brothers and sisters, to know as I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that being a member of His church, the only true and living church, is never a burden but always a great blessing. That we may be grateful for this blessing I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
Church Publications (HTML): "We must realize that decreasing these needs for financial contributions gives birth to enlarged opportunities for us to live a higher law. By this I mean that on our own initiative we can find ways to extend ourselves in helping others and contributing to the building of the Lord%u2019s kingdom. The Lord has instructed us that we %u201Cshould be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in [us], wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves].%u201D (D&C 58:27%u201328.)"
Church Publications (HTML): "Sacrifice is a demonstration of pure love. The degree of our love for the Lord, for the gospel, and for our fellowman can be measured by what we are willing to sacrifice for them. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ manifested the supreme example of this love. His life and ministry established a pattern for us to follow. His divine mission was culminated in a supreme act of love as He allowed His life to be sacrificed for us. Having power over life and death, He chose to submit himself to pain, ridicule, and suffering, and offered His life as a ransom for our sins. Because of His love, He suffered both body and spirit to a degree beyond our comprehension and took upon Himself our sins if we repent. Through His personal sacrifice, He provided a way for us to have our sins forgiven and, through Him, to find our way back into the presence of our Heavenly Father.

The sacrifice he requires of us is %u201Ca broken heart and a contrite spirit%u201D (3 Ne. 9:20) that can lead us to repentance. When we consider His example, the demands made upon our time or means are slight in comparison. We should, therefore, give gladly and count it as a blessing and an opportunity."
Church Publications (HTML): "%u201CI know, as I know that I live, that this is God%u2019s work and that you are His servants. %u2026 I remember one testimony, among the many testimonies which I have received. %u2026 Two years ago, about this time, I had been on the Fort Peck Reservation for several days with the brethren, solving the problems connected with our work among the Lamanites. Many questions arose that we had to settle. There was no precedent for us to follow, and we just had to go to the Lord and tell Him our troubles, and get inspiration and help from Him. On this occasion I had sought the Lord, under such circumstances, and that night I received a wonderful manifestation and impression which has never left me. I was carried to this place%u2014into this room. I saw myself here with you. I was told there was another privilege that was to be mine; and I was led into a room where I was informed I was to meet someone. As I entered the room I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious being I have ever conceived of, and was taken forward to be introduced to Him. As I approached He smiled, called my name, and stretched out His hands towards me. If I live to be a million years old I shall never forget that smile. He put His arms around me and kissed me, as He took me into His bosom, and He blessed me until my whole being was thrilled. As He finished I fell at His feet, and there saw the marks of the nails; and as I kissed them, with deep joy swelling through my whole being, I felt that I was in heaven indeed. The feeling that came to my heart then was: Oh! If I could live worthy, though it would require four-score years, so that in the end when I have finished I could go into His presence and receive the feeling that I then had in His presence, I would give everything that I am or ever hope to be!%u201D (Melvin J. Ballard%u2014Crusader for Righteousness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966, p. 65%u201366.)"
Church Publications (HTML): "Our commitment to the kingdom should match that of our faithful ancestors even though our sacrifices are different. They were driven from comfortable homes and compelled to journey one thousand miles by ox-drawn wagon and handcart to reestablish their families, homes, and Church in safety. Our sacrifices may be more subtle but no less demanding. Instead of physical deprivation and hardship, we face the challenge of remaining true and faithful to gospel principles amidst such evil and destructive forces as dishonesty, corruption, drug and alcohol misuse, and disease often caused by sexual promiscuity. Also, we find ourselves in combat daily with immorality in all of its many forms. Pornography and violence, often portrayed in insidious television shows, movies, and videos, are running rampant. Hate and envy, greed and selfishness are all about us, and families are disintegrating at an ever-increasing pace. In the midst of all of this, my brothers and sisters, we must never forget the source of our abundant blessings."
Church Publications (HTML): "%u201CAfter landing we planned to go west to Utah with the Martin and Willey handcart companies; but Elder Franklin D. Richards counseled my father not to go with them. Afterwards, we were very thankful because of the great suffering, privation and cold weather to which these people were subjected. There were many of the company who were frozen that year on their journey. %u2026

%u201CThe company we were assigned to had gone on ahead and as my mother was anxious for me to go with them she strapped my little brother James on my back with a shawl. He was only four years old and %u2026 quite sick with the measles; but I took him since my mother had all she could do to care for the other children. I hurried and caught up with the company, traveling with them all day. That night a kind lady helped me take my brother off my back. I sat up and held him on my lap with the shawl wrapped around him, alone, all night. He was a little better in the morning. The people in the camp were very good to us and gave us a little fried bacon and some bread for breakfast.

%u201CWe traveled this way for about a week, before my brother and I were united with our family again.%u201D

This brief episode in Great-grandmother%u2019s life teaches me that our pioneer ancestors gave everything, even their lives, for their faith, for the building of the kingdom of God when the Church was in its infancy. It teaches also that they helped, nourished, and strengthened each other in their extremity and shared unstintingly. Their material means, such as food, clothing, and shelter, were meager, but their love for one another and their devotion to their Lord and to the gospel were boundless."
Church Publications (HTML): "And every member of his church has this promise: That if he remains true and faithful%u2014obeying, serving, consecrating, sacrificing, as required by the gospel%u2014he shall be repaid in eternity a thousandfold and shall have eternal life. What more can we ask?"
Church Publications (HTML): "We know full well that the laborer is worthy of his hire, and that those who devote all their time to the building up of the kingdom must be provided with food, clothing, shelter, and the necessaries of life. We must employ teachers in our schools, architects to design our temples, contractors to build our synagogues, and managers to run our businesses. But those so employed, along with the whole membership of the Church, participate also on a freewill and voluntary basis in otherwise furthering the Lord%u2019s work. Bank presidents work on welfare projects. Architects leave their drafting boards to go on missions. Contractors lay down their tools to serve as home teachers or bishops. Lawyers put aside Corpus Juris and the Civil Code to act as guides on Temple Square. Teachers leave the classroom to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Musicians who make their livelihood from their artistry willingly direct church choirs and perform at church gatherings. Artists who paint for a living are pleased to volunteer their services freely."
Church Publications (HTML): "All our service in God%u2019s kingdom is predicated on his eternal law which states: %u201CThe laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion, for if they labor for money they shall perish.%u201D (2 Ne. 26:31.)"
Church Publications (HTML): "%u201CIf you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.%u201D (D&C 78:7.)

It is our privilege to consecrate our time, talents, and means to build up his kingdom. We are called upon to sacrifice, in one degree or another, for the furtherance of his work. Obedience is essential to salvation; so, also, is service; and so, also, are consecration and sacrifice.

It is our privilege to raise the warning voice to our neighbors and to go on missions and offer the truths of salvation to our Father%u2019s other children everywhere. We can respond to calls to serve as bishops, as Relief Society presidents, as home teachers, and in any of hundreds of positions of responsibility in our various church organizations. We can labor on welfare projects, engage in genealogical research, perform vicarious ordinances in the temples.

We can pay an honest tithing and contribute to our fast offering, welfare, budget, building, and missionary funds. We can bequeath portions of our assets and devise portions of our properties to the Church when we pass on to other spheres.

We can consecrate a portion of our time to systematic study, to becoming gospel scholars, to treasuring up the revealed truths which guide us in paths of truth and righteousness.

And the fact that faithful members of the Church do all these things is one of the great evidences of the divinity of the work. Where else do the generality of the members of any church pay a full tithing? Where is there a people whose congregations have one and two and three percent of their number out in volunteer, self-supporting missionary work at all times? Where does any people as a whole build temples or operate welfare projects as we do? And where is there so much unpaid teaching and church administration?"
Church Publications (HTML): " might well ask, %u201CIsn%u2019t it enough to keep the commandments? What more is expected of us than to be true and faithful to every trust? Is there more than the law of obedience?%u201D

In the case of our rich young friend there was more. He was expected to live the law of consecration, to sacrifice his earthly possessions, for the answer of Jesus was: %u201CIf thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.%u201D"
Church Publications (HTML): "When the prophet Gad commanded David to build an altar and offer sacrifice on property owned by a certain man, that man offered to provide the land, the oxen, and all things for the sacrifice, without cost. But David said, %u201CNay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.%u201D (2 Sam. 24:24.)"
Bruce R. McConkie: "We are not always called upon to live the whole law of consecration and give all of our time, talents, and means to the building up of the Lord%u2019s earthly kingdom. Few of us are called upon to sacrifice much of what we possess, and at the moment there is only an occasional martyr in the cause of revealed religion.

But what the scriptural account means is that to gain celestial salvation we must be able to live these laws to the full if we are called upon to do so. Implicit in this is the reality that we must in fact live them to the extent we are called upon so to do.

How, for instance, can we establish our ability to live the full law of consecration if we do not in fact pay an honest tithing? Or how can we prove our willingness to sacrifice all things, if need be, if we do not make the small sacrifices of time and toil, or of money and means, that we are now asked to make?

As a young man, serving at the direction of my bishop, I called upon a rich man and invited him to contribute a thousand dollars to a building fund. He declined. But he did say he wanted to help, and if we would have a ward dinner and charge $5 per plate, he would take two tickets. About ten days later this man died unexpectedly of a heart attack, and I have wondered ever since about the fate of his eternal soul."
Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "It is written: %u201CHe who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.%u201D (D&C 88:22.) The law of sacrifice is a celestial law; so also is the law of consecration. Thus to gain that celestial reward which we so devoutly desire, we must be able to live these two laws.

Sacrifice and consecration are inseparably intertwined. The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord%u2019s interests on earth.

The law of sacrifice is that we are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the truth%u2019s sake%u2014our character and reputation; our honor and applause; our good name among men; our houses, lands, and families: all things, even our very lives if need be.

Joseph Smith said, %u201CA religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation.%u201D (Lectures on Faith, p. 58.)"
Church Publications (HTML): "And then greater blessings will be poured out on us. It will be just like our surprise and joy when we receive an unexpected gift."
Church Publications (HTML): "We have many bills to pay, but when we pay tithing, let us feel joy for having the opportunity to donate something to the Lord."
Church Publications (HTML): "Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid of sacrifice. Please enjoy the happiness and blessings from the sacrifice itself.

Occasionally there is a time gap between the sacrifice and the blessing. The sacrifice may come according to our time schedule, but the blessing may not come by our, but by the Lord%u2019s, calendar. Because of this, the Lord comforts us by saying, %u201CWherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work%u201D (D&C 64:33)."
Church Publications (HTML): "I think that the very first blessing coming from sacrifice is the joy that we can feel when we pay the price. Perhaps the very thought that the sacrifice itself could be a blessing becomes a blessing. When we have that kind of thought and feel the joy, we might have received a blessing already"
Church Publications (HTML): "In this last dispensation of the gospel, many pioneers lost their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice to keep their faith.

Today we are not likely to be asked to make such a big sacrifice as giving up our lives, but we can see many examples of Saints who make painful sacrifices to keep their faith and testimonies alive. Maybe it is more difficult to make the small sacrifices in our daily lives. For instance, it could be regarded as a small sacrifice to keep the Sabbath day holy, to read the scriptures daily, or to pay our tithing. But these sacrifices cannot be easily made unless we have the mind and the determination to make the sacrifices that are needed to be able to keep those commandments.

As we make these small sacrifices, we are compensated by more blessings from the Lord. King Benjamin said, %u201CAnd ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever%u201D (Mosiah 2:24). And, as he did with his own people, King Benjamin encourages us so that we will receive more blessings as we continue to obey the Lord%u2019s word."
Elder Won Yong Ko: "The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that %u201Ca religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation%u201D (Lectures on Faith [1985], 69). If we summarize the history of the scriptures, we can say that it is the history of sacrifice."

Friday, February 17, 2006

What Is the Value of Algebra?: "Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. You will never need to know -- never mind want to know -- how many boys it will take to mow a lawn if one of them quits halfway and two more show up later -- or something like that. Most of math can now be done by a computer or a calculator. On the other hand, no computer can write a column or even a thank-you note -- or reason even a little bit. If, say, the school asked you for another year of English or, God forbid, history, so that you actually had to know something about your world, I would be on its side. But algebra? Please."

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Diplomacy Tutorial - 00001
IBM - IBM Certified Used ThinkPad T40 (14U) Slightly blemished - United States
BYU News Release:"You have to say to yourself, I will not base my food intake on diet plans, food-based rules, good and bad foods, all of that kind of thing. For people who are deep into dietary restraint and dietary rules, again, that is a very difficult attitude adjustment to make, to give up all those rules. Behaviorally, the next step is learning how to not eat for emotional, environmental or social reasons. Socially we eat all the time in our culture, we go out to eat ice cream if we break up with our boyfriend, we eat to celebrate, we eat when we're lonely, we eat when we're sad, we eat when we're stressed out," said Hawks. "Being able to recognize all the emotional, environmental and cultural relationships we have with food and finding better ways to manage our emotions is part of the process." The final step is learning how to interpret body signals, cravings and hunger, and responding in a healthy, positive, nurturing way. Learning the body's signals can be difficult at first, but Hawks suggests thinking about hunger and satiety on a 10-point scale, where "10" is eating until one is sick and "1" is starving. Intuitive eaters keep themselves at or around a "5." If they feel they are getting hungry, they eat until they are back at a "5" or "6." They stop eating when they are satisfied, even if that means leaving food on the plate. One part of intuitive eating that may be counterintuitive to people conditioned to restrictive dieting is the concept that with intuitive eating there is a place for every food. In other words, there's no food that's ever taboo, there's no food you can't ever have. "Part of adopting an anti-dieting attitude is the recognition that you have unconditional permission to eat any kind of food that you want," said Hawks. "And that's scary for people who say, “If I abandon my diet rules, then I'll fill a pillowcase full of M&M's, dive into it and never come up again. That's what I crave, I know that's what I crave, that's all I will always crave.' But that's not the reality. The reality is that our bodies"rave good nutrition. "Dieting creates psychological and physiological urges to binge on taboo foods, and, although in the short term people may have binges when they first start eating intuitively, they eventually learn to trust themselves. One technique Hawks suggests is having an abundance of previously taboo foods on hand. Once the foods are no longer forbidden, a person quickly loses interest in them. "If people are committed to recognizing what their bodies really want, the vast majority of people will say that they very quickly overcame cravings," said Hawks, opening a drawer at his office desk filled with untouched junk food. "It certainly has worked for me."

Friday, February 10, 2006

Adult ADD Strengths ? Top 10 Advantages of ADD in a High Tech Career
WordPress › using wordpress as community calendar ? WordPress Support
Social Aspects of Information Technology: "Brief Annotated
bibliography

Semiotics, Compassion
and Value-Driven Design, by Joseph Goguen. Slides for keynote
address at conference on Sociology of Informatics, Kyoto University, 13-14
December 2005; discusses semi-formal application of algebraic semiotics to
software design, emphasizing the roles of values and compassion.
?

Ontology, Society, and
Ontotheology, in Proceedings, Conference on Formal Ontology in Information
Systems (FOIS'04); a postscript
version is also available, as is the
abstract. Marshalls ideas from philosophy, cognitive science, and
sociology, in an attempt to discern some limitations of ontologies in the
computer science technical sense. See also Workshop on Potential of
Cognitive Semantics for Ontologies, for which this is was keynote address.
?

Against Technological
Determinism; a short essay defining technological determinism and
pointing out its dangers; in CVS:
Concurrency, Versioning and Systems, edited by Jon Phillips, and also in Scale, volume 1, no. 5, pages 19-22. The
original html version is also
available on the CSE 275 website. ?

A blog, with notes on sociology of technology,
logic, computer science, life, and all that. Note: The blog has
partially recovered from a serious security bug in its underlying Pivot
system: it is readable and writable, but RSS feeds and archiving do not work.
?

Semiotics, Compassion and
Value-Centered Design, by Joseph Goguen. Discusses the informal
application of algebraic semiotics to large scale design problems, such as
organizations, and brings in the role of compassion. Keynote lecture, in
Proceedings of the
Organizational Semiotics Workshop, University of Reading, UK, 11 - 12
July 2003. Slides for the talk
and the original abstract are also
available. ?"
Filecloud - Media / Other / LOLs / The IT Crowd

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Anil Dash: Alt Weeklies, San Francisco, Curiosity, and Bullshit: "Part of the problem here is the culture of alt weeklies: Despite having a reputation for being politically liberal, they're some of the most conservative organizations in journalism. Hamstrung by unreasonably overentitled union members on one side and underpaid, underappreciated freelancers on the other, it's impossible to create a newsroom where more than a handful of writers are even able to give a damn. And a business model predicated on nickel-and-diming for rent ads or charging brokers a premium price for ALL CAPS in a listing, combined with some edge-of-legality back pages full of ads for whores is certainly not contributing to a community."