Truth Restored

In a departure from the normal topics I regularly post here, I'd like to take a moment to share my deepest convictions and bear testimony of those things which give me guidance and happiness. In this age of instant and abundant information, I would be selfish and foolish not to share the most valuable knowledge I have gained.

God lives, and is our loving Heavenly Father. He cares about us, His children, and has a plan for our eternal happiness. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to earth to teach by example, and to carry out the atonement, which makes it possible for us to repent and return to God's presence.

God has called prophets in these days, just as He has done from the beginning of time. Joseph Smith is the first prophet of these latter days in which we live. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on the earth, and is led by Christ through a prophet and apostles, just as it was while he was on the earth. Thomas S. Monson is the prophet who leads the Church today, under the direction of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God and has been brought forth by the power of God to stand as an additional witness of Jesus Christ, alongside the Holy Bible. How thankful I am that the Lord cares so much for each one of us, and that He knows all of our struggles and deepest trials! He is willing to bless us and help us to overcome. This knowledge gives me and my family great joy. I know that these things are true by the power of the Holy Ghost, which I have felt in my heart, and which testifies of truth.

"We don’t ask any people to throw away any good they have got; we only ask them to come and get more. What if all the world should embrace this Gospel? They would then see eye to eye, and the blessings of God would be poured out upon the people, which is the desire of my whole soul."

"Thousands who have heard the Gospel have become obedient thereto, and are rejoicing in its gifts and blessings. Prejudice, with its attendant train of evil, is giving way before the force of truth, whose benign rays are penetrating the nations afar off. … The time was, when we were looked upon as deceivers, and that ‘Mormonism’ would soon pass away, come to naught, and be forgotten. But the time has gone by when it is looked upon as a transient matter, or a bubble on the wave, and it is now taking a deep hold in the hearts and affections of all those who are noble-minded enough to lay aside the prejudice of education, and investigate the subject with candor and honesty." (Joseph Smith)

I would like to invite all who read this to come unto Christ, to learn of Him, and of our Heavenly Father, and to read His words and obey His commandments.

Adobe Media Player

Hey Adobe, Joost called, it wants its app back! Adobe has released a standalone, flash-based streaming video program called Adobe Media Player. The application runs on the cross-platform Adobe AIR development environment and performs very well--way faster than Joost!

So, what is Adobe doing releasing a streaming video player? It already has a large market share in online video with its hugely popular flash video format ("Hello Youtubes!") It seems that the Adobe Media Player is a portal for content as it offers up shows and clips from networks such as CBS, DIY Network, Food Network, HGTV (my wife will love this!), MTV, PBS, and more. Whatever their plans, Adobe has created a fast, lightweight, very clean, user-friendly application that can deliver on-demand, standard and high definition video programming.

When you launch the Adobe Media Player, you see the "home" screen from which you can access shows from different networks. Noticeably absent from the list of networks is NBC and FOX. Hey guys, can't we all just get along? I love Hulu, but wouldn't it be nice if we could just pick one location for streaming shows online and stick with it, instead of jumping all over the place? But, where's the excitement in that?

The Adobe Media Player features a slick interface for content and the program feels quick and responsive. You can customize your favorites and receive regular updates to your favorite channels. Give it a try!

(Source: AppScout, Adobe)

Save Money at the Gas Pump

BYU NewsNet's Ashley Evanson posts some tips on saving money at the gas pump. The following suggestions are taken from the article and may save you come extra cash when filling up.

• • Buy gas on Wednesday mornings: According to gaspricewatch.com, prices are highest on the weekends and settle down by midweek.


• • Fill up in the morning: The colder it is outside the denser the gasoline is, giving you more for your money. Most gas stations don't compensate for a temperature change.


• • Put the nozzle on "slow" mode: Most pumps have three speeds: high, middle and low. Pumping on the low speed minimizes the amount of vapors created while pumping. If it's on high, vapors fill your tank instead of gas, but you still pay as if it were all gas.


• • Fill up when you're tank is half empty: The more gas that's in the tank, the less air there is in the empty space. Gasoline evaporates at an unimaginable speed, and the less air in the tank, the slower it evaporates.


• • Never fill up when a gasoline truck is pumping gas into the storage tanks: The gas in the tanks is being stirred and the dirt that usually settles at the bottom will be pumped into your tank. No piece of dirt is worth $3.25 a gallon. (Source: BYU NewsNet, Photo, tome213)

Stellar Customer Satisfaction

This week online movie rental web site Netflix experienced a major outage. The web site was inaccessible for most of Monday and DVD shipments were delayed by a day. For the majority of Netflix subscribers, this was not a big deal--web sites go down from time to time. Those red Netflix envelopes with DVD's inside were likely sitting on top of our DVD players collecting dust anyway, just waiting for us to find a couple of hours to sit down and enjoy a movie. But downtime, especially if your business depends solely on a web service being available, can seriously impact a company's stock value and public perception.

So, to counter any negative affects of this outage, Netflix has issued a 5% credit to all subscribers, seemingly without any pressure from customers. Well done Netflix! Not only is Netflix the best online movie rental service in terms of service, speed, additional features such as online streaming, and the ability to greatly customize your selections, but also they are willing to completely satisfy their customers. Netflix customer support has always been very responsive, and I am always greeted by a patient and helpful service representative when the rare occasion arises that I need to contact them by phone. This is much more than can be said for Blockbuster. (Source: AppScout)

Confessions of a Car Salesman

Edmunds.com has an informative and entertaining piece called Confessions of a Car Salesman that reveals some secrets and tricks that car dealerships use to try to sell you an overpriced car. They hired a writer to take jobs at a couple of new car dealerships in the L.A. area. Chandler Phillips talks about his experience and offers some insights for the consumer.

Phillips says, "The system was designed to catch people off guard, to score a quick sale, to exploit people who were weak or uninformed. Those were our buyers...I know that many of the salespeople I worked with would take an extra thousand dollars profit without a thought, then laughingly brag about it to the other salespeople. The management of the dealership rewarded this kind of profit taking and called it superior salesmanship." Of particular value is the final installment called "Lessons from the Lot," which tells you what to watch out for. (Source: Edmunds.com)

Happy Pi (π) Day

Today is Pi Day, and today (3/14) at 1:59:26 p.m., is Pi Second. How will you celebrate?

My Nerd Score

Apparently I'm nerdier than 93% of all people. :-)

DoD Posts Video of Successful Satellite Missle Mission

The Department of Defense destroyed a failing spy satellite Wednesday with a huge missile launched from the USS Lake Erie. The DoD has posted video footage of the successful mission.

Here's an embedded video straight from the DoD site:

, unknown@http://dodvclips.mil/linking/index.jsp?skin=oneclip&fr_story=FRdamp250959&rf=ev&hl=true" href="http://dodvclips.mil/linking/index.jsp?skin=oneclip&fr_story=FRdamp250959&rf=ev&hl=true" id="">

(Sources: DoD New Media, CNET)

Huge Blue Screen Error in Vegas

I don't know what it is about public blue screens of death, but I am oddly attracted to them. Perhaps it's because I can sympathize with the poor systems admin who gets that dreaded phone call saying that the display is jacked up again. They're both funny and sad at the same time. (Source: The Raw Feed)