Moving Family History Work Forward

Extracting all the names from a census into a computer database involves thousands of human hours to verify each name found by OCR (character recognition) engines. The Generations Network has invested those hours to load not one but hundreds of censuses on the Internet. I was surprised to recently find out that there are programs in the Church that are duplicating this work. From an observer's standpoint, I wonder why Family Search should invest so many volunteer hours to do work that has already been done. It would seem that with cooperation instead of competition, those volunteer hours could be put to better use on other work that has not been finished.

Technology and the Church

My bishop recently pointed out that when Christ was on Earth, He did not have a desk or computer. Christ did His work among the people; He loved the people, served them, and came to know them. Although the Church continues to find new technologies and exploit them, the salvation of souls is still, and always will be, the purpose of the Church and our lives. It is important to not get so involved in new technology that we forget to go out among the people. Turn off the computer, put the cell phone away, and visit someone who needs a friend. Technology can help God's work will move forward as long as technology does not become God's work in the minds of the members.

Writing about Writing

The other day I came across a quote by Joseph Smith in the new church manual. On page 561, Joseph Smith is quoted to have said, “I seldom use the pen myself.” When I read that quote, my mind instantly jumped to one of my current classes where we are required to write a lot and to listen to long lectures about writing style. Many people in the Church would argue that Joseph Smith has had a greater influence in the world than anyone except for Jesus Christ. That the Mormon prophet could have such a great influence on this world without touching a pen and paper is indeed impressive; it makes one wonder if writing is really as important as some make it out to be. However, reading that quote in relation to my class has allowed me to ponder what I really feel about writing. I like writing, and I am not sure that I envy Joseph Smith’s position of dictating everything he wanted to be written. It is fun to sit at the keyboard and to see feelings clearly express themselves on the screen. I am grateful for the opportunity to write. I might not like writing for others to critique and grade, but I like writing to express, analyze, and record. Indeed, I plan to keep writing for another long, long time.

Technology Invades College Football

This post is a response to the following article:
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/story.cfm/story/656629

Technology changes every area of our lives, including our favorite entertainment. In order to view the effect of technology on college football, one only has to look at the television during a game. When I began watching BYU football fifteen years ago, the entire television screen was devoted to the action; the only thing to watch was the game. Soon, however, things began to change. First, a score display chose to take permanent residence in the upper corner, and then the clock decided to reside there as well. If that wasn’t bad enough, it wasn’t long before scores and news about every sport in the country started to flash on the bottom of the screen throughout the game. What used to be a simple display of a football game has become a complex view of all manner of distracting displays! This article about Crowton's use of video games in Louisiana shows that college football viewers are not technology’s only victims. This article suggests that in order to be competitive, coaches will now have to use video game simulations to make sure that their players have experience against their opponents' defenses. Although fans can choose to hate the displays, they have to live with them until the next new technology allows them to personalize their television screen. Even then, players and coaches will probably see no relief; they will have to adapt to new technology just to stay competitive.

Small Post 1

Occasionally, I will find myself lying on my back and just looking at the ceiling. With my body relaxed, I have a chance to let my mind run over the more complicated issues that I encounter in life. Perhaps you have thought through many of these same questions: “How can I better let my wife know I love her? How can I raise a righteous family in today’s world? What is the best thing that I can do with my free time?” In today’s technology based society, some are tempted to think that we live in a new age that is different from all previous human experience. However, in those quiet moments, I ponder questions that have been asked throughout the ages. Even with the technology boom, we still contemplate the same fundamental issues.

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