I got one of those PayPal security keys a little while ago. I got one after hearing about it from the security now podcast. Now I use it for PayPal and Verisign's OpenID. Since it is based off of cryptographic algorithms. I decided to start using it for random numbers whenever I needed one. I do this all the time. Flip a coin? I don't carry c...

Ya know...  I didn't quite know what to write about today, but I knew I had to write about something.  Some days, I've just got to write. Fasting.  Fasting, to me, is simply going without food or water for a duration of time with the purpose of showing God I am willing to sacrifice something which is very important to me, having h...

Those who know me will find this post a bit ... unlike my typical post. This is mainly because I have a pretty passionate stance on DRM, OSS, Microsoft, Linux, and religion.  (I hate DRM, love OSS, hate Microsoft, love Linux, and I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Anyway...  I have a few words to say ab...

Heh... I remember a couple of months back (or has it been a year now?) when Microsoft announced to the world that the years of delay were now over, as they were finally releasing the famed Microsoft Vista Operating System!!!!!! The world (and peasants) rejoiced. About a week after that, my father called me up and told me he was considering th...

My wife and I got into a discussion a couple of nights ago which has stayed with me enough for me to mull over the questions at least a couple of times.  I'm not 100% sure of the correct answer yet, so I thought I'd blog about it. The topic at hand is a quite sacred one, so I'll treat it with as much respect as is possible. The discussio...

Something I thought I'd write down, because it took me forever to figure out, has been a bug for at least a year, and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The bug is quite simple really, and once you know where to look for it, it pretty much stops being a bug due to an extremely easy work-around. The bug is concerning network cards plugg...

Many people like fall because of all the colors. I am one of them. I got up this morning and noticed a red glow coming out of one of the rooms. Some of the trees just outside the window had gone into full color. ...

Man, something must be up with the ward I attend, because even though I've been going to the same ward for the last 3 years, the past 6 weeks have been..... very spiritually nourishing. I'm not saying that until then, it wasn't wonderful, but I've never loved going to church as much as I have during the past 6 weeks.  It's weird.  I'm ...

Oh, man...  I just got back from a wonderful geek lunch with the guys 'n' gals from UPHPU (Utah PHP Users Group), and it was a blast.  ... heh... makes me smile just thinkin' about it.  Okay... I didn't just get back.  I had to make sure I could get done today what I promised my boss, and then I would write about it. Well... ...

I take no credit whatsoever for the following content, but I thought it was too incredible to simply link it.  Here is the link to the original page, but just in case that site ever goes down, I want to make sure to keep the content around.  It's just too beautiful. "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail b...

Wow...  What a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of the prophets who wrote it. This whole chapter is a rebuke against people who don't accept the Book of Mormon.  Reading chapters like this strengthens my testimony concerning the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  I mean, what are the chances, if the Book of Mormon were false,...

Today, an audio file was sent to me in an email.  This audio was compressed and encoded using the aac codec for compression and wrapped in m4a.  In order to use it, I had to convert this file to a wav format.  Usually, I receive files in mp3, ogg, or flac file types, and use lame, oggdec, or flac to decode them back to wav.  Wit...

I actually read this yesterday while I was about ready to fall asleep, so, I didn't write anything.  However, I did make a goal last year to read through the entire Book of Mormon and write about each and every chapter, so here's what I remember about Alma 5. Within the first 3 verses, Alma makes it apparent that he is talking to the people ...

Some of you may know that I've been working on a Christmas music project called "Herod the Fink" with someone who has been steadily becoming a great friend of mine - Jesse Crowley. This started September of 2009, when he called me up and asked me if I wanted to work on a few Christmas songs he had been cooking up, and I accepted.  We...

I guess Heavenly Father leads us in mysterious ways.  I came across this site through an engine search.   I feel God's hand upon me the last few weeks bringing me back to where I am supposed to be... Sometimes I feel so lost and I start to question could my heavenly Parents really love me?  Then some simple miracle happens and m...

I just got up from a nap I was taking due to my going to bed at 4:00am this morning and the first words my wife told me after coming up stairs was "President Hinckley died a few hours ago." I'm not one to get upset at death.  For some reason, I've never had a problem with people dying.  The one thought which makes this even ea...

The first thing I thought of when I read this chapter, besides, "Holy moly, it's like almost midnight and I'm gonna dive into Jacob 5??", was the following: In Jacob 4:1, he states how hard it was for them to keep plates, due to the difficulty in engraving.  Well....  With that in mind, I asked myself, "How important is J...

Whenever I do credit card checking, I always end up searching for longer than it would take me to create it myself, so...  without further ado, here's the Luhn, or "Mod 10" algorithm for validating credit card numbers. function mod_10($cc) {     $reversed_string = strrev($cc);     $string_array = str_sp...

Well... I finally did it.  I've been kind of anxious about the whole "modifying my car" because I've never done it before, and my car is still under warranty.  I have no idea what this might mean for the warranty, but after hearing / feeling the difference, I don't regret it one bit.  I love it! Just two modifications fo...

We had the awesome opportunity to work, once again, with Herod The Fink last weekend, and ended our session with some serious improvements to some songs we had already recorded. We totally re-invented the introduction to Desperate Husband's Chorus, which now is sure to give a healthy round of grins to all that hear it.  We also put a pretty ...

Man... At work, I've got .... well.. I was gonna say dilemma, but... it's not a dilemma because I know of a way out. My dilemma is, I've gotta have a website functional by Friday, which means I've got two days to get it to work. The database we're connecting to (postgres on gentoo, thank heavens) has a table with more than 12 million rows in it....

An interesting thought came to my head that turned into a quote of sorts. I'm sure others have said likewise, but I think this would be a great thing to have hanging in the house to constantly remind us. May thoughts and choices of today bring God to guide and light my way. Life with a healthy baby and a healthy wife sure is good. Welcome to ou...

Name that tune... :) Man... I'm having a hard time thinking of what to write about. (as you can tell from my last post) Hmm..... Ya know... something I think I'm missing in my blog is the fact that I'm going to be a father (again) any day now. Sarah is due on February 10th and it's getting to the point where Collin Ryan Jones could join our...

Cecilia graduated from Preschool last month, but I finally am getting around to posting the pictures of it.  She absolutely loved her graduation.  She felt very special.  This is her Preschool class singing songs for us for their graduation ceremony.  The little boy in the yellow shiny shirt is Owen's little brother.  ...

Okay people.... Today at work was great, and everything.... But I've just gotta tell ya... Well.. before I get ahead of myself, let me rewind a bit... The commute to my new job requires me to drive by a new Ford Dealership, and darnit.. They have a great selection of a certain car I'd really like to own someday. Well.... (yes.. the story gets wo...

  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints   We believe other lands had visits from Christ. They saw signs in the heavens, they knew His name. He taught them, they felt His wounds, He dried their eyes. The Book of Mormon testifies that He came.   We're Christians otherwise nicknamed “The Mormons”. The Chur...

 I thought I wouldn't do anything today... Mostly because I was feeling a bit ill...  But, I figured there was no better way to usher in the new year! Happy New Years 2010 to everyone!  And hope you enjoy AdvancedOnlineDrums' version of Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Click for video. ...

Some very interesting things to me when I ask her "Hmm.... What should I write about today?" She suggests that I write about my undying love for her. Well... If that isn't obvious, I'm obviously not myself. Anyway.... Tonight we went on a date, and it was a good date. We were with Scott and Alison (and Steve, who never showed up..... poop-on...

Man alive... Girls can become a problem in one's life. I'm feeling a bit of stress in that well... Heck... I don't know how to explain it. There are girls coming at me from every angle. I've talked on the phone with Charlene now about 5 times and I enjoy talking with her quite a bit. Indeed, I do... Today I asked for a girl's phone number...

Man.... No wonder we're all so screwed up in this life. If someone out there honestly does not think he or she is screwed up in some manner hasn't really lived. :) The whole reason for my saying this is the very essence of my life. If I've been taught once, I've been taught 1,000,000 times that to touch a lit burner on a stove is to get B-U-R-N-E-...