Categories
culture

Upstanding

I think that David has captured one of the keys to being a dependable voice in the blogosphere as he talks about childish behavior. One of the things that really tells me that a blogger is fair and civil in their discussions is when they can accept comments of disagreement without getting petulant or childish. Deleting comments falls in the class of childish – my policy is to never even consider deleting a comment except for the “comments” left by bots as popularity boosting links to online casino’s and the like; those get deleted and banned.

My viewpoints disagree with the viewpoints of David Anderson somewhat regularly, but he has consistently proven himself to be mature and civil. His thoughts are honestly held and fairly well thought out. For all these reasons he is one of the people I most enjoy reading.

Categories
thoughts

Balance

I have been preparing a talk about balance based on Doctrine and Covenants 10:4. It has been interesting finding material and noticing how general the topic of balance in life is. I have categorized the general areas of balance as: internal balance, interpersonal balance, and balancing your responsibilities. I have also noticed a connection between all three types of balance – the only way to achieve any of those areas of balance effectively or sustainable is by seeking balance using eternal principles to guide the priorities which define the balance we seek.

I have thought of a good analogy for balance. I am still working on the details and I will post them here as I round out the image, but here is the basic gist of it.

Consider the gyroscope; when it is stopped it is impossible to have it stand up for any sustained period of time. When the gyroscope is spinning it will stand on its own, the faster it spins the more stable it is. When it is very fast it is so stable that we can use it as a means of guiding much larger objects such as airplanes.

What is our gyroscope? – I believe that our values are our gyroscope. Those values are only stable if the gyroscope is spinning. The way we spin our gyroscope is to do the little things that keep us in touch with God and ourselves. These things include regular prayer, scripture study and meditation or introspection.

That’s all on balance for now but I hope to add more soon.

Categories
life technology

GMAIL

I have a Gmail invitation available if anyone is interested.

Categories
National politics

Realistic

I enjoyed reading this editorial but whether it is the right thing to do or not I am sure that it is not realistic to expect president Bush to specifically condemn the attacks on John Kerry.

One of the major differences between those attacks and the ones aimed at the president is that the attacks aimed at the president were happening before John Kerry was even chosen as the Democratic nominee so nobody could say that he is orchestrating them. The complaint that George Bush is behind these attacks is unfounded. He does not need to be behind them to get people to attack John Kerry. The fact of the matter is that radical Republicans don’t like John Kerry any more than radical democrats like George Bush.

Categories
National politics

Two Non-Binding Parties

I was interested as I read this article from Wired Magazine about the new opportunities in politics for people to define themselves outside the strictly Republican vs Democrat framework. Instead they can define themselves in contrast to a party affiliation. The example in the article is Governor Schwarzenegger who is a Republican, but is much more centrist or liberal position on many issues than the National Republican party.

Categories
technology

Genealogy Collaboration Online

I have been thinking about how to effectively use the internet to work with other people in my family on the same line from different locations. I have thought about using a wiki structure. I am now thinking that it should be based on some widely used genealogy software such as Personal Ancestral File so that the web pages can be easily converted to offline editable forms.

The next consideration I thought about was ensuring the integrity of the information being added to the files. That is as easy to ensure online as offline if you limit the people who can contribute to the people you know who participate in genealogy offline already. The problem is that I expect the list of names to grow and converge with other lines so that new people would like to participate who I don’t know. If I open it up to unknown users I have to find a way to know if someone is playing a prank on me or really interested in adding to my genealogy file. Actually I know that very few people would waste their time playing a prank on my genealogy, but I do not want people adding information if the information is based on poor research. I think that the solution is to require logon credentials and only allow people to log on if they can prove a connection to the line. This will give them a vested interest in keeping the information as accurate as possible. The logins would be simple and not designed for security, but we would also be able to trace who was entering information and contact them if the information was consistently suspect.

Categories
Uncategorized

Impartial – or not

I had an immediate reaction when this Slashdot post about an “independent” study that resulted in Newham and Microsoft signing a 10 year deal for Microsoft providing IT support for the city of Newham.

It really caught my attention when it was revealed that the study had been funded by Microsoft. It looks a whole lot like our practice in the United States of having pharmecutical companies doing all the drug research and then having the FDA approve or reject the drugs without the FDA having the power to publish the results of the studies the public cannot be confident that any impartial information has been disseminated. All we know is that there is a pretty good chance that the new drugs that get approved are not likely to cause widespread negative side-effects.

It’s just further proof of the need for unbiased study as the root of any problem-solving endeavor such as I suggested for the education system. All this was on my mind because I heard an interview on NPR about giving impartial information to doctors so they could make their decisions based on more than glossy photos and free lunches.

Categories
Uncategorized

Experts vs Everyone Else

Alan has a good point about the Irony of always leaning on the experts whenever we do things. I am one of the regular bloggers with little to no readership that Alan contrasts the experts against. One of the reasons that I blog is that I would like to get some ideas out in public and hear some feedback on those ideas.

From what I have experienced the world or practice of blogging has the potential to “[break] down traditional power structures” but until it becomes more accepted in mainstream culture as a valuable resource for ideas and discourse there will still be very little voice for those of us “little guys” who are trying to find a voice through their blogs.

Categories
Uncategorized

Real Solutions

I found it interesting to see the results of the first comparison between charter schools and public schools which founds that the Education > Nation’s Charter Schools Lagging Behind, U.S. Test Scores Reveal” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/education/17charter.html?hp”>Nation’s Charter Schools Lagging Behind the public schools.

I have nothing against charter schools and nothing against “No Child Left Behind.” The only thing I am interested in is improving our education system in the United States. I don’t know how to do that right now, but I have an idea of how to find out some answers.

We need two very broad studies an our education system. One study should be a widespread inspection of those schools and districts which have consistently performed well above the national average. The study should take special note of those schools which have been performing above average which have the lowest budgets both overall and per student. The second study should be a study of students who have performed individually well above average again making sure to look closely at those from underpriveledged backgrounds.

Neither of these studies should look at a particular aspect of the schools or the students. It should be a matter of gathering as much information as possible and trying to find some commonalities that might suggest the causes for their success. Then we could look at ways to foster in less successful schools and students any common traits found in in the successful schools and students.

I would honestly be very surprised if I were the first person to think of this. Perhaps I am not reading the right sources to know who is doing this work already. If that is the case I would be very grateful if anyone could point me to the work of people who are doing this type of study.

Categories
thoughts

Perception

I have often said that perception is more important than reality. That always gets people to look askance at me and begin to disagree with me. Nobody has ever succeeded in changing my mind, but I have been thinking about it again lately and thought I would record it here and hope for others to add their perspectives.

People do not act based on reality. They act based on their perception of reality. If everyone acted on reality they would always act the same in as others in the same situation. If someone argues that reality differs from person to person they have fallen into a trap of semantics because it has to be more accurate to say that the perception of reality differs from person to person than to say that reality itself differs.

My next argument is the one where this fact makes a difference in our lives. If we act based on our perceptions of reality then our success in achieving what we are trying to achieve in life will be based largely on how accurately our perception of reality reflects the way things really are. That is why it is so important for people to continue seeking knowledge until they can see things as they really are.