Alright, by now the immensely large community who visit my blog page day after day in hopes of a new post will be happy to see another article popping up on my homepage.

Today's topic is more of an addendum to last week's post. So I've been designing (actually programming) websites recently, trying to turn this into a career, or at the very least, a profitable summer job.

Ethan, my brother, had been helping me with the designing some of the web graphics. His work is quite groundbreaking. Sometimes its hard to even know how to properly implement some of the stuff its so cool.

Anyway, one unfortunate job of being a web programmer is making sure your site works with every browser known to man. Well, here is a quick little list of the browsers and browser versions one should check to make sure your website is fine in all of them.

Internet Explorer (IE for short)
Version 7.0
Version 6.0
Version 5.5
Version 5.0 (Optional, sites are beginning to discontinue support for IE 5.0)

FireFox
Version 3.0
Version 2.0
Version 1.5 (Again, this could be optional)

Opera
Latest Version

Safari
Latest Version

Flock
Latest version (Unnecessary, because Flock is essentially firefox under the hood)

You get the picture. Counting all the different versions of browsers, I currently have 9 different browsers installed on my computer. And I sure do love checking every page of a website 9 different times making sure everything looks the same.

Anyway, I would encourage everyone to try out some of the new browsers. My personal favorites are Flock and Opera.

Flock is a social web browser made primarily for viewing sites like facebook and blogger.com. And opera is awesome purely because of one feature. When you open a new tab, it opens a page with 9 thumbnail images of sites you have set which you can visit very easily and rapidly.

Lastly, with all the energy I have in me, if you are viewing this webpage in anything but the most current version of your browser (go to "Help -> about" to view your browser version), use the links above to download the most up to date browser of your choosing.

And if you happen to be using IE 6 or earlier, PLEASE DOWNLOAD IE 7 or FireFox NOW! As a web developer, I have learned from personal experience that even if a site looks perfect and crisp in IE 7, FireFox, Safari, and Opera, it will look like a happy meal (toy and all) stuffed into a blender and left on high for 30 minutes in IE 6.

I wish I were joking. And the next time you see a message telling to update your browser, do not click ignore. Those thirty seconds for a quick install will give me more piece of mind than you could know.

Hello everyone. Just a quick post to tell everyone to check out the website Ethan and I have designed for Tarron's Kennel. So please check it out and tell me what you like/dislike and what things could be improved.

It is under construction, so some links may lead to placeholder pages, but for the most part, you can get an idea of the website, its design ideas, and the flow.

Anyway, any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

If you are sitting at work and have nothing to fill your time, here is a simple, yet addicitive flash game.

All you use are the left and right arrow keys to steer through a 3-d maze of sorts.

Anyway, if you can beat the third level, let me know, thats as far as I've gotten.

http://js.pp.sohu.com/ppp/blog/widgets_0914/game/3dcube.swf

Here is an ad that just blew me away. I found it at hitslot.com so your welcome to check it out to see if the add is still there. Anyway, here is the picture I found. This just doesn't seem like something I would ever need or could ever find any sort of practical application for. Enjoy.

Mom, I know you think we play too much Xbox, but it could be worse.

Much worse. Click the link for the full story. This guy is 32, owns all 247 North American Xbox 360 games, plus 3 Xbox 360 consoles (the "Pro" "Elite" and "Halo 3" editions) and he has a wife and 8 year old daughter (and a full time job).

The Past

Cars manufactured before the 1970s were purely mechanical animals. The combination of advanced manufacturing processes and a deeper understanding of simple machines gave way to cars in the steam age. The idea was refined and redeveloped, eventually leading to the model-T: the first affordable and mass produced car ever. Technology changed and cars switched from steam to internal combustion. Manufacturing precision and speed increased with time, allowing for higher quality cars to be mass produced.

Coming to the 1970s, computers were placed in cars. At first, these were simple computers that monitored simple things, like oxygen to gas ratio and temperature. Even these simple computers helped engines run more efficiently.

The Present

Today, computers are an integral and inseparable part of any car. Cars now perform diagnostics and monitor most---if not all---working components. From air pressure in the tires to rain-sensing wind shield wipers, cars today do it all. GPS navigation systems are becoming increasingly common standard components in cars. In fact, desktop computers are even built into some high end models with internet capability, just like a regular computer at home. So with computers becoming increasingly common in todays cars, some might ask, what's next?

The Future

So here is my idea for where cars are headed next. Instead of making separate displays (GPS screens, etc), make the windshield itself the display. Instead of having to look away from the road to see where your going on a small 3"x3" screen with a map on it, the map would be overlaid on your windshield.

Manipulation of the screen would be handled by motion sensing gloves. If there was a high amount of glare on your hood, you could draw (using your gloves) to block the glare with a small box drawn on the windshield/computer display.

When driving at night, you could open up a night-vision box so you could see both via normal headlights and with night vision right beside it on the windshield.

Plus, some amount of normal computerness would be available, like opening a youtube window to entertain your guests, or checking weather reports. Traffic reports would be built into the GPS system.

Alerts (like your air pressure is low in the right front tire), would pop up directly on your windshield. Alerts telling you its time for an oil change would also display on the screen along with options to schedule an oil change, a map box showing you nearby locations for oil changes, and the functionality to call ahead and see if one is busy or not.

Lastly, the all-to-familiar "Distance to empty" feature would be much cooler. Instead of showing you a rough estimate of how many miles you've got left to drive, on the GPS screen, you could overlay a Distance To Empty map, showing the farthest gas station you can reach along your current route. Now, if you're running on empty and on a long trip, you can see exactly how far you can push it before running out of gas.

So if I could make a car, this would be it. You've gotta admit, it'd be hard to top!

So for this blog post after the long, cold, winter, I wanted to do something kinda funny. Anyway, I remember hearing some hype about Windows Vista and its revolutionary speech recognition. Having had other things to occupy my mind, testing of this particular feature escaped me. A few weeks ago though, I broke down and gave the speech recognition a whirl. At first things were a little rocky, so I tinkered with some settings in an attempt to optimize this tool to my speaking style. I even spent time training the darn thing! By now, I’m sure you’re curious as to what my final opinion is on Vista’s speech recognition. Well, I won’t spoil anything for you. Below is what Vista thought I said when I dictated this blog post to it in MS Word. Below that is a link to the sound recording of me dictating. Enjoy!

So for this blog posts after the long cold winter I wanted to do something kind of funny. Anyway, I remember hearing some hype about windows be stuck out his revolutionary speech recognition. Having had other things to occupy my mind, testing in this particular feature escape me. A few weeks ago though, I broke down and gave a speech recognition of world. At first things were able rocky, so like tinker with some settings and attempted to optimize this tool to my speaking style. I’d even spent time training the darn thing! By now, I’m sure you’re curious as the one my final opinion is on these two speech recognition well, I won’t spoil anything for you below is what the step by step my belly dictated this blog posts to get up in Microsoft word. Below that is a link to the sound recording of me dictating. Enjoy!

So here we are, poised and ready to venture forth into the wild untamed wilderness that is the router.

Ok, so what is a router? Well, on the absolutely most basic level, the router splits your internet signal so that multiple computers can share one internet connection. Now before I proceed further into what a router does and how, I would like to explain how a router splits an internet connection.

A cable splitter creates a copy of the cable signal. Imagine a pie. Each TV connected to a splitter gets a whole "copy" of the pie. A router, on the other hand, can't make multiple pies. It only has one pie, so it has to split it up into pieces to share between the computers. If one computer is downloading some huge files, it means the router doesn't have as much pie (or bandwidth) to share between the other computers.

The next order of business is how a router functions. Before I get started with this, I have to explain what an IP address is. An IP address is just like your street address. All mail that goes between your house and the world goes through your mailbox. All information between the internet and your computer goes through your modem. A router splits the "mail" between all the appropriate computers. For example, two people are browsing the internet. One visits www.google.com and another visits http://summerbreak05.blogspot.com. The router sends those URLs to the modem, which then sends them into the internet. The two webpages send information back to the modem. The modem sends the information to the router, which makes sure the right computer gets the webpage it requested.

So that is how routers/modems work at the most basic level. So what ELSE does a router do? Because all information between your computers at home and the internet goes through your router, your router provides a way to manage your internet connection and add protection via firewall. Almost all routers have a built in firewall which protects all computers connected to the router. Now the question is what is a firewall and how does it work? Your home network (all computers connected to a router) is like a small community. Without a router (and pretending your comptuers have no anti-virus or other protecting software), your community can send anything out of the community and anything can get in. A router is like building a castle around this community. So how does information get in and out with a giant castle built around your village? The answer is ports. Remember in the movies how castles have holes in the wall that can be opened and closed to allow archers to fire out? That is similar to a router. It operates all these holes (or ports) in your firewall.

For example, did you know that all website traffic goes through port 80? By default, routers leave the important ports open, like port 80. A lot of routers also allow you to open and close these ports. Have you ever had a program that went really slowly or not at all when connected to the internet? Likely, your router was blocking the port that the program was trying to use. It would be like trying to get in/out through the strongest part of a castle wall. You can open these ports, and your program will work fine, however, you can block ports to prevent computers on your network from using limewire or other programs you don't want to be used on your home network.

So routers have two basic functions. Split the internet signal and protect your computers. I would like to revisit one topic I mentioned earlier. The IP address. Imagine IP addresses are phone numbers. You have a global telephone number. Lets imagine mine is (111) 111-1111. This is the equivalent of your modem's IP address. But routers keep track of the computers by giving them all IP addresses. Think about it like this. If your trying to call someone in your community, you don't add the area code. But calling to Hawaii, you better have that area code on there. Your router gives each computer a "local" IP address, which makes sure the router sends the right information to the right computer. However, your modem is the one making the long distance calls and actually getting the right information from the webpages.

Anyway, that's all for now. Ask me questions in the comments and I will do my best to clear up any issues and hopefully make another networking post soon. Hope you guys like it!

Due to public demand, the networking 100 class is now being offered on http://summerbreak05.blogspot.com. So let's start with the basics about a connection.

What actually happens when you type in www.google.com? Well, its like shopping with a credit card. You can buy as much or as little as you want, but no matter what you buy, you have to swipe your credit card to purchase it all.

When you visit a website, you have to give that website a little information before you can view the page. That information is always the same. That information is the site's URL, in the case, it is www.google.com. If you visit my blog the information you would send is http://summerbreak05.blogspot.com. Sending that URL is like swiping your credit card. You can get an entire webpage back, just by sending out that URL.

Glossary time. Uploading is anytime information is sent FROM your computer TO the internet. Downloading is the reverse. Information is sent FROM the internet TO your computer.

So going to www.gooogle.com is like buying a furniture set with a credit card. In terms of physical space, you used a 1 inch peice of plastic and are taking home a pickup truck full of stuff. You upload a tiny piece of information to www.google.com and they give you a lot back (their webpage).

Uploading pictures is like going to a pawn shop. You take a bunch of stuff to a shop and walk out with cash. You send in a lot of information and take back just a tiny bit.

So Xbox LIVE uses more upload space. Browsing the internet is more downloading. But if someone is uploading pictures and using LIVE at the same time, its like two people cahsing in their life's belongings at the same pawn shop at the same time. It would be madness.

Which is what happens. Both LIVE and the upload process conflict with each other and make both slower and less efficient.

Stay tuned for my next class which will be Networking 103: The Router. If you want to know how to network multiple devices AND configure your router's firewall properly, I will guide the way.

If you are a particularly adventorous soul, you can check out www.port-forward.com for some helpful tips and guides on how to get the most out of your router.

Yeah, the time has finally come! I just wanted everyone to know that I will be reporting to the MTC on December 12th and after that I will head into the Utah Salt Lake City South mission for two years!

Woohoo!

Mom recently pointed out that I complained for her taking all the upload bandwidth. Here is a brief explanation of networking principles as it applies to the matter at hand. :)

Everybody knows about download bandwidth, which is usually just called downstream, or bandwidth. This determines how quickly webpages load, files download, etc. Browsing the internet is primarily download driven. However, it is still a two way street. When you type in a URL (like www.gooogle.com) you are sending a small amount of information to a computer (actually a server) somewhere which then sends you information back, which you then download and your computer displays the webpage. So browsing the internet is primarily download driven.

Xbox LIVE multiplayer matches are primarily upload driven (usually called upstream). What happens is one Xbox 360 "hosts" the match (he decides what is what in the match, whether you killed that person or not, etc). Anyway, because everything that you (the player) does must be verified with the host of the match, you have to upload information regarding every time you pull the trigger, turn, pick up weapons, grenade, etc. So we say that Xbox LIVE multiplayer matches are primarily upload driven. While you download information, the information is only the stuff relavent to you. You won't download as much information about a player 100 feet away who is off screen as you would someone who is right in front of you.

Typically, browsing the internet and Xbox LIVE exist harmoniously because one is download driven and the other is upload driven. However, two upload processes occuring at the same time (pictures and LIVE) can hamper both. Also important to note, with cable internet, the downstream capabilities are greater than the upstream capabilities. I can't say how everybody's internet service providers (ISP) operate, but typically the upstream is less than the downstream.

So anyway, that's why things went crazy last night. And now you know a little bit more about the internet in general, and what not. Enjoy.

Alright guys, this post might get a little dry, but I'll try to keep it as brief and entertaining as possible.

So I was running the other day and began pondering good and evil, free agency, and other interesting topics. By the end of my run I had developed a new take on all of the above topics.

I'm just gonna dive right in. What is power? Think about it. My musings led me to one conclusion. Power is the ability to act or to do. In other words power is potential. So what is action? Action would be the yang to power's ying. Action are the choices we can make as a result of the power we have. I compare this relationship to running. I have the power to run about 2 1/2 miles. That power means nothing without being able to exercise it and do the physical running. So the idea is one of action and power, both being equally necessary.

I then applied my new definitions to free agency. We all have the power to make our own choices. This power, like running, can be altered by our choices. Choosing to run daily will increase my power to run. Choosing to eat unhealthy foods instead of running will diminish my power to run, thereby limiting my choices. Even trying to avoid choice will affect my power to run. Inaction on my power to run will diminish it.

So now all the above was finally applied to good and evil. Right and wrong. Before I delve into that, I would suggest that every choice we make is by nature a sub-choice stemming from our power to choose. Since our choices affect our power to choose, all our choices have some kind of an effect on our agency, or power to choose. That line is the line between good and evil, and indeed it is a line. As a part of the definition of right and wrong I submit that evil is addictive while good is liberating. Think about it. A lifetime smoker is addicted to cigarettes. While services like charity do not consume the participant as do cigarettes, alcohol, or other vices that grab hold and tend not to want to let go. In other words, the sin itself entices us and attempts to control us. "Good" does not entice us. Our own desires for freedom and control over ourselves pushes us to do good. I guess you could call this a definition of the conscience.

My grand, overreaching point is this. Choosing the wrong negatively affects our ability to choose, enslaving us, while choosing the good positively affects our ability to choose, allowing us to choose more and more freely. So here is my definition of good and evil. Good increases our power to choose while evil decreases our power to choose. Even inaction has a result on our power to choose. By remaining inactive and not exercising our power to choose, we are passing up chances to choose the right thereby decreasing our power over choice. So the only way to better ourselves is to choose the right. We cannot simply not choose the wrong and think ourselves to be choosing the right and moving forward. It is only by choosing the right that we can obtain more power over choice. This path of right leads to a perfect control over ourselves and a perfect control over every choice we make.

So what do you think? Am I right, or way off base? I have only used my own personal experience and logical thinking to form my conclusions, so feel free to point out weakness or strengths of my argument. Anyway, enjoy.

Original Video Here

Before I being, I'd just like to point out that this is my 201st blog post. So yeah, it has been awhile since I've posted and just wanted to thank Kristen and Cory for being such awesome family (and gracious hosts) to me and Logan this previous week. We sure had a lot of fun spending time with them. Plus, getting some of Kristen's cooking was an added bonus! One of my good memories from this trip was playing "bad stingray" with Ian. For those who may be unfamiliar with this game, I'll explain the rules. This game can only be played on a trampoline. Ian is spider-man while I play the "bad stingray." I shoot stingers at Ian, while he shoots "web" at me. Then we both fall over, I tackle him, tell him "he'll never escape." Ian then responds with "I will escape somehow," and somehow he always manages to free himself.

I also enjoyed seeing how grown up Elise and Merry Grace are. Conversations with Elise reach a surprisingly adult level and yet she still is mischievous and fun to be around. Merry Grace doesn't say much, but her smiles melt hearts (and possibly butter, although science has yet to weigh in on the matter).

Overall the week spent in Raleigh was quite awesome. I sure hope they will let us stay again sometime. Or better yet, come up here. And next time we're together, bring on the Guitar Hero Kristen and Cory...bring it on.

Well, here I am again, sitting at my computer and thinking about what to write. I've been pondering about video games lately and whether video games are too violent.

Many adults and parental figured rally around the war cry that video games are responsible for the increasing violence in today's society and that video games are too violent.

I myself agree that on the whole, video games are generally too violent. Many video games out there I would even call disturbing. But just because the majority of movies produced or books written contain excessive sex and violence does not mean that good, enjoyable, and downright excellent books and movies do not exist.

The same is true of video games. Many are of poor quality but there are some that are worthwhile. I wish to give a couple of examples of games that meet my own personal criteria for excellence.

The first is Guitar Hero (and Guitar Hero II). Here are games based completely around music. They contain zero violence. If anything, it could be argued they teach rhythm and provide a stepping stone into other musical pursuits. In fact, I began taking guitar lessons because of playing Guitar Hero II! Very quickly, to those who say video games are a waste of time, I only ask, are video games any more of a waste of time than TV? Video games are interactive, whereas TV is strictly one way.

The second game is Viva Pinata. Viva Pinata is a children's game filled with bright colors, fluffy pinatas and happy music. Viva Pinata is geared toward younger children and shows a softer and fluffier side of gaming.

Now I wish to cross into dangerous territory. My last example of the good of video games is Halo 3, a well-known "shooting" game. The reason I give Halo 3 as an example is to show that perhaps those who rally should reexamine their stance against games in general and some shooting games. So what makes Halo 3 a "good" shooter? Because shooting isn't the focus. Just like great movies aren't great because of special effects, Halo 3 is not good because you shoot. Halo 3 is good because it is social. It connects people in ways that e-mail and phones can't connect people. Halo 3 is about playing with friends and socializing while playing a game. It is not about playing a game while socializing. I won't go into the nitty gritty of how Halo 3 makes this happen, but only that Halo 3 is about playing with friends and not about shooting.

I make these arguments only to help people see the good in video games. Again, I don't deny it, the majority of video games are too violent, but instead of plucking out all the bad apples, let's just enjoy the good ones.

Hmm, hopefully I have intrigued you enough to read a post with a title like the above one. A little back story to this post. My sister and I were dying to read Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Book 7) and we wanted to read it on release day. I found that if you order the book at www.amazon.com then you could get release date shipping. My family was going down to my sister's house and we figured that we would both read the books once they came. Unfortunately we (my family) was trying to help her getting ready for a move into her new house. My dad and my sister's husband (Cory) wanted to keep us focused on moving and not on reading HP 7. They happened to be outside when HP 7 was delivered and proceeded to hide the book with no intention of telling me or Kristen until they had extracted proper amounts of work from us.

Anyway, I, about 30 minutes after all this went down, decided to see if there was tracking information to tell me when my book would arrive. I found tracking information, went to UPS, and discovered that UPS said my book had already been delivered. What?

So I checked all the normal places UPS would leave a delivery. It was nowhere outside, nowhere in the garage, etc, etc. Then I figured it must have been hidden. Going inside I went straight for dad's luggage. Guess what I found...two copies of HP 7---one for Kristen, one for me. Dad and Cory were particularly surprised and how quickly I had found the book, especially since they thought they were the only ones aware of its delivery.

It only goes to prove that the magic of Harry Potter and the not-so-magical package tracking trump parents and husbands any day.

Well, I would love to make a huge post about vacation, but sufficeth it to say that enough vacation information (plus pictures) can be found on the blogs of my family. Allow me to share an equation or two regarding vacation. Vacation = family. Family = awesome + fun. Vacation = family(awesome + fun). Family(awesome) + family(fun).

So there you have it.

On a side note, Harry Potter (Book 7) comes out at 12:01am on this Saturday. Crazy, eh? Not to mention, the Potter series has sold 325 million copies worldwide. And www.mugglenet.com has 40 million hits per month.

I'll admit to be completely taken in by Potter mania. I'm as eager as the next guy to get my hands on the last book. In fact, to prepare for the final book, I reread the 6th book (Half-Blood Prince is the subtitle). However, I underestimated my own ability to regulate my reading. Starting at 8:30pm on Saturday, I had finished all 650+ pages by 5:30pm on Sunday. I know I have a weakness when it comes to reading books, but I had no idea it had gotten this bad. I literally could not stop until I finished it.

However, this has taught me one valuable lesson. When I do get my copy of Harry Potter 7, I must turn off my cellphone, shut off my laptop, and stay in my room until I finish it. And make sure I remind my mom to come in and refill my food IV from time to time.

Although partly a rehash of previous ideas from an earlier discussion, I present to you the most useless key on any keyboard---the tilde/backwards quotation mark thingie. Yes, have you ever stopped to look above your tab button and below your "Esc" button? A few spanish speakers/typists may use the tilde from time to time (albeit rarely I imagine), but I know of no one who uses the backwards quotation mark thingie.

My question is, did the people who decided what goes on all keyboards just run out of stuff to put on here? I mean, my laptop keyboard is a condensed version of a full-size regular keyboard and the keyboard people certainly found enough room to put the tilde/whatever on here. Hmmm.

Now that I'm through with my rant, I have a question---have any of you (the readers) ever used either of these buttons? I guess the real question is, are they truly useless? And with great power comes great responsibility. Now that you know you have a tilde button and funny looking single, oddball quotation mark, you must find ways to use them. Just kidding. By the way, happy 4th of July everyone. More from the "Useless Series" tomorrow.