Yesterday at church, I had a couple of thoughts which I neglected to write down.  I think I'll write them down now. Something I might have written down in my previous scripture studies is my question as to why Lehi's family didn't think about getting the plates of brass / Ishmael's family before they left for the wilderness?  I would th...

I'm not in the mood to write much, but since it's a goal, I'll keep it. One thing I noticed and had a question about was why Nephi, Sariah, and Sam didn't know where to go in Lehi's dream.  Verse 14 lays it out quite plainly. The first thing that came to mind was Lehi was the leader of the family.  He was the director and it was his d...

Something I've never really ever thought of, and maybe simply because it's so obvious, but... When Nephi goes on in his rant toward those who were desirous to go to Jerusalem, he keeps saying "How could you forget?".  Things like "How have you forgotten the great things the Lord hath done for us" makes an incredible assum...

I just got done reading a wonderful article in which the author tries to describe the core differences between the "open source" mentality and the proprietary one.  He does a great job of being objective and is generally well-thought out. Since I began using Linux, being myself a capitalist, I've battled the idea that the open sour...

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I lost the post I just wrote about chapter 6. I didn't realize how short it was, so I wrote about the importance of scriptures spoken of in verse 5.  If we didn't have scriptures, our kids would eventually lose the commandments of God (unless, of course, it was revealed again). Also, it's good to not...

I just got done reading an excerpt on Sony's new "open", "non-DRM" solution to downloading their music legally. As I understand it, you have to go to a store, buy some sort of card for $12.99 which has a magic code on it, get the code, go to a website, enter the code, and then you are able to download one of their whole 37 alb...

Man... I'm just tired.  Today was weird..  So... Studying chapter 5 right now, I'm brought to another realization that even the families of Prophets aren't perfect (hello, Lehi was a prophet, and he managed to have Laman and Lemuel...) The specifics to which I refer is Sariah's murmuring, and reaction when she saw her 4 boys return fr...

I was sifting through my various RSS feeds a couple of minutes ago, and one popped up from TomsHardware which I thought might be interesting.  So I opened it up in my browser, and before I could even read the title, my eyes were drawn to this ad by Microsoft.  The image itself isn't very funny, but man-oh-man, the captions which came to m...

One way I really enjoy reading the scriptures is from a very empathetic point of view.  I find I learn more when I study, if I try to imagine what would *really* be going on if I were actually within the scripture. Chapter 4 is perfect for this.  Reading somewhat between the lines of the first part of this chapter allows us to imagine ...

Within the first 5 verses of this chapter, I'm reminded again of how a person works who is truly interested in God's commandments. Lehi was commanded of the Lord to have his sons return to Jerusalem to get the plates of brass from Laban. Telling Laman and Lemuel would most certainly have some consequences in that they would automatically assu...

Wow, it's been a long time since I last studied my scriptures. The first thing which caught my attention is the phrase, "if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost".   I guess that...

Less than one month until I board a plane and fly to the tropical islands!! WAHOO!!  It's going to be sweet.  My nephew, Christian, just graduated from high school and to celebrate, a bunch of us are taking him to Hawaii (my mom, Paige, Christian and his parents, Robyn and Tim and myself and Tiffy).  We will be going to Maui for 2 da...

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...

Man...  I've been having mixed emotions about the oncoming trip to California for a number of reasons.  I mean, this trip really has been putting both me and my wife through the ringer.  First, I got a new job, and am being quite challenged by my new tasks there.  Taking time off to go on a vacation right now isn't the best idea...

"God's people have not always been worthy of the marvelous experience we have shared today. The Apostles, after the Ascension of Christ, continued to exercise the keys He left with them. But because of disobedience and loss of faith by the members, the Apostles died without the keys being passed on to successors. We call that tragic episode &q...

Hmm...  I really like when prophets, like Alma, quote other prophets to make a point.  The best way to keep the doctrine pure is to look the reference up.  Otherwise, it inevitably will be diluted down.  Ain't no doctrine like pure doctrine. Interesting that the quote from Zenos in verses 4-11 is paraphrased beautifully in Alm...

So, we've been busy at the studio lately.   So much so, I've neglected to update the site's samples.   We've got a few new ones up, and so I thought I'd let everyone know a bit about em'. ScramJet : Tread Softly  -  ScramJet is a band out of Salt Lake City, dead-set on bringing their musical vision to life.  They kn...

I just got done lightly scanning over this article before I shook my head in disgust and decided to write this entry. Let me say this first.  I've been professionally employed in web development now for 6 years, and am by no means a genius on the subject, but I think I may have a clue or two. I have absolutely no idea why Bluefish seems to...

The golden rule seems to have come out of this chapter. The first thing that caught my attention in this chapter is the possible meaning of verses 4 and 5.  the "mote in thy brother's eye" verses.  Some people would interpret this as "live and let live", or "worry about yourself, not others".   To...

So, a few years ago, when I had no idea what I was doing in the studio, a guy named Rich Bischoff contacted me and asked me to give him some drum samples from my studio.  He didn't call me back.  I don't blame him. hehe... So, for the past 3 years, I've been dedicating myself to getting the studio to be the absolute best it can possibly...

I find it so interesting that Nephi, in all cases I can think of, when stating how hard things can get, always follows it up with how blessed they are.  I believe Nephi was how I would like to, and am trying to be like.  He recognizes things are bad, yet always finishes on an optimistic note.  Personally, I beleve grounded optimism c...

Hmm.... I enjoyed this talk, but I'm not entirely sure what to write about it. The three aspects of gaining a burning testimony of light and truth given are completely true: Learn True Doctrine Gain Pure Testimony Live Gospel Courageously I remember something my mission president said about the first one.  He said som...

Heh....  If you know me at all, you probably know a couple of things about me (in no particular order): I love Linux and gentoo I own a 2007 Mustang GT I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I really loathe the idea of DRM. Now, before I get into the details,  DRM just makes me sick.  I ha...

Okay...  I know it's a little bit late, but I thought I needed to write about my B-day anyway.  It was the 14th, and evidently, the 16th, too. So, the 14th began with a great time eating lots of great food.  Pancakes for breakfast, my best friend Scott took me to my all-time favorite Thai restaurant and we got some insanely delicio...

Hmm....  I'm wondering how I can write this entry without offending anyone, so... if you are offended by it, I'm sorry.  What is going to be said has to be said, and it will, hopefully, enlighten at least someone. Due to this wonderful blog, I've been feeling quite pensive lately and liking the change.  Midst this change, I asked on...

As soon as the angel of God knew Nephi's purpose and desire, the first question he asked him was "Do you believe?". I think that's a fairly important question, which we should ask ourselves each day.  If we are being tempted and we ask ourselves that question, to which we already know the answer, I can promise you the tempter's pow...

It seems that this chapter is just a informational chapter on the goings on over a space of quite a few years.  Heh... That's pretty general, but there's really not any story-line, or analogy, or deep doctrine here... I did find it interesting how they spoke of using cement, and the sparseness of timber, and such like that.  I wonder wh...

I've just gotta say....  Man alive, I love open source.  I've also gotta pay my dues. ILMJ uses a wonderful open source editor called fckeditor.  It is simply amazing.  I haven't done much with it, but without it - this website wouldn't even be close to being usable yet. I just got done configuring the image-upload process, an...

Interesting how verse 3 is pretty much an exact parallel with the light of Christ in our lives. Verse 4 is yet another example of taking a pretty huge risk in the name of God.  Getting into ships, the likes of which none of them had ever seen before, being built by the blueprints of God.  Closing the doors, with all your family inside, ...

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...